


Catching Madness

by MisticRays



Series: Spreading Madness [2]
Category: Fake AH crew - Fandom, Mad King Ryan - Fandom, Ryan Haywood - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Smut, Swearing, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-24 16:53:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 30,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4927594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MisticRays/pseuds/MisticRays
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shay is ready to start a new life with Ryan as his Mad Queen. However, things go wrong when the wedding is crashed by the Fake AH Crew asking for help. A new crew is in town and it seems like they're all in danger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> IT'S BACK!!!!!!! Welcome to part of two of the Spreading Madness series! The Shay and Ryan story continues! More explosions! More adventure! More steamy bedroom scenes to last a life time! (probably not)

I never thought that I’d get married. It was something that never really crossed my mind. When it did, I always thought that there wasn’t a guy out there who would be willing to put up with my insanity. If you told me a year ago that I’d be walking down the aisle, wearing a flowing white gown, towards the man who promised me forever…I would have laughed. Now as I took those last few steps I realised that it was my insanity which brought us together. That and a whole lot of explosions.

My very soon-to-be-husband, Ryan Haywood, stood before me, wearing a tux and had the biggest smile I had ever seen. Our friends sat around us, all of them wearing their best. Reno was the only one who didn’t look happy, even though I knew he was. The priest began our vows and as Ryan said his, I felt a pang of sadness. There was one person who wasn’t here. My best friend, Rebecca. So much had happened since that night. She disappeared but our informants say she went back to the Fake AH Crew.

“I, Shayne Graham, promise to love you forever,” I started my vows. We had written our own, wanting it to be more personal. “I promise to care for you and to never abandon you when you need me most.” Ryan and I had met through some…interesting means. When I was working alone I had made quite the name for myself. He ended up tracking me down and offered me a job. Two actually. One would be working at his publishing firm and the other would be helping him sneak into the offices at Roosters, a company that invented some really high tech shit, and find out what they were hiding. Turns out they were hiding a bunch of shit. For example, the people who worked there were part of the crew Fake AH. They wanted to test Ryan so they pushed him to breaking into the company. They didn’t count on me being involved and the end result almost left me dead. Fun, right? The leader, Geoff Ramsey, has sworn up and down that he will no longer bother us but I knew that Ryan didn’t believe him. He hadn’t forgiven any of them for what happened that night.

“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the priest said. “You may kiss your bride.” Ryan lifted my veil and leaned down, pressing his lips softly to mine. There was a promise in the kiss, a promise for more after everyone left us alone. Our friends started applauding, standing up and watching us walk back down the aisle, hand in hand. We were all meeting at the safe house later for dinner and drinks. Ryan led me out to the limo waiting for us and had the driver take us to our house to change into something more comfy. I had told him that there was no way in hell that I was wearing this big poufy wedding dress to the dinner. I would end up ruining it.

Our house. I still loved saying that. As soon as I agreed to marry him Ryan had all my things moved to his place. I loved going to bed and waking up with him beside me every day.

“What are you thinking about?” Ryan asked, moving my red hair away from my face.

“The future,” I replied, leaning into him and resting my head on his shoulder. “Our future.”

“And what does our future hold?” Ryan entwined our fingers together, pressing soft kisses on the back of my hand.

“Well the immediate future holds wine and lots of sex for the next few weeks,” I said. We decided to take a proper honeymoon, leaving our alley and good friend Aqua in charge of our crew. Aqua led the crew Best Dressed Top Hats who helped us with the heist against Roosters. Ryan and I hadn’t been a crew then but everybody who had joined us wanted to keep doing more heists so we eventually became one. After he convinced me of it. I was never a big fan of crews, always thinking they were all the same. Dumb names and even dumber people. Well, we certainly got the dumb name down. The Mad Kingdom. I tried so hard every day to get Ryan to change the name. It was horrible but he refused to do it.

“Well, I know for certain that you will not be leaving the bed for the entire time,” Ryan said, kissing my temple.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I giggled. We finally got to the house and quickly went inside. Ryan was keeping his tux on but I was changing into a champagne coloured dress. It fell to my ankles and had a v cut neck. It was simple but I loved it. When I went back downstairs, Ryan handed me a shot of vodka and clinked our glasses together.

“To our future,” he said. We downed the booze and headed back out to the limo. Our safe house was a little cabin located on the outskirts of the town, hidden within the trees. Reno had taken me there one, to hide me from the Fake AH Crew when they were threatening to kill me. The place kind of grew on me so Ryan had it renovated and expanded so it’d fit everyone. We got there before everyone else, helping the catering crew set up. Some trees had been cut down so there was now a backyard and we filled the space up with tables and chairs. Dark red table clothes hung on the tables and small candles were glowing faintly in the middle of each one. Poles had been set up so we could hang garland and a mosquito net around the whole thing.

For dinner we were serving steak for two reasons. One, it was Texas and two, why wouldn’t you? Of course it was the fancier cuts of steak but whatever. Steak is steak. For dessert I had the local bakery made a giant black forest cake because yum. That was my entire reasoning behind it. Just ‘yum’. The guests started filing in then, all of them talking amongst themselves. They all came up to Ryan and I, hugging and congratulating us.

“Hey!” Saul slung an arm around me, a moping Reno behind him. Saul was my go to guy when I used to work alone. He paid me big bucks to get first pick of everything I stole. Reno was my hacker. He could get into any system within seconds. Both had become close friends over the years and they were happy, although Reno would never admit it, for my marriage. “Congrats kid!” He elbowed Reno who glared.

“Yeah, sure,” Reno shrugged. I rolled my eyes.

“It’s not so bad Reno,” I said. “I’m still me. I’m just…no longer single.”

“Yeah and now we’re never going to see you again!” Reno said. “You’re gonna be banging him every day and then get pregnant and you’ll have to stay home with the baby and it won’t be fun!” He pointed an accusing finger at Ryan, making him laugh.

“I was hoping to keep her home with two or three kids,” Ryan said offhandedly.

“Come on Reno, before you pop a blood vessel,” Saul laughed, dragging the red head away.

“Two or three?” I asked, turning to Ryan.

“Gotta keep a strong family line!” He replied causing me to laugh. When everyone was seated, we served dinner. The restaurant I picked was the best when it came to steak. They were always juicy and melted in your mouth. Ryan and I decided not to do the whole bridesmaids and groomsmen thing, seeing as our best friends betrayed us. Although that didn’t stop me from wishing they were here. We both missed our friends, despite the fact that they tried to kill us.

“You know,” I said. “If Becca was here she’d be demanding to do a speech.”

“I know what you mean,” Ryan smiled. “The Lads would be trying to spill all my embarrassing secrets. Geoff would be drunk already and Jack would be trying to keep everyone in check.” I grabbed Ryan’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He smiled at me before his eyes flicked over to the entrance, his whole body tensing up. I followed his gaze and saw Gavin, Ray, Jack and Rebecca standing there, all dressed to the nines. I also saw that Gavin and Rebecca were holding hands…huh. Wonder when that happened.

“The fuck are they doing here?” Ryan hissed. The others had noticed the new arrivals as well and I saw all of them had pulled out small guns.

“Whoa!” Ray put his hands off. “We come in peace! We just want to congratulate our friends!”

“Friends?” Ryan barked out a laugh.

“We have a wedding gift,” Gavin said, holding up a box. “It’s not a trick. We promise.” I looked over at Saul and nodded towards Gavin. Saul made his way over and gingerly took the box. “It’s from all of us.” Gavin added. Ryan went over to Saul, hesitating before lifting the lid. I strained to see what was inside.

“It’s a set of crystal wine glasses,” Jack said. “Four of them. At the bottom are two coffee mugs with your names written on them. Those were Geoff’s idea.” I slowly made my way towards them, avoiding looking at Becca, and peered into the box.

“So where is Geoff?” Ryan asked.

“Uh…he figured you’d try to kill him on the spot,” Ray shrugged. “He said we’d have a better chance.”

“And Michael stayed away for the same reason,” Gavin added.

“Ah. So the little shit is still alive,” Ryan grumbled.

“Also…we were wondering if you two would like to meet up and talk,” Jack said. “We want to apologize…Geoff wants to apologize. And there’s something else too. Something serious has come up and we need help.”

“You expect us to just believe you?” I asked, looking up at Jack. “You killed a lot of our people, seriously harmed some others and then almost killed me.”

“You broke into our building!” Jack snapped back.

“You made me do it!” Ryan replied. “If you had just told me the truth none of that would have happened! Now I would appreciate it if you left!”

“Tonight, the docks. We’ll be waiting,” Jack said before turning around and leaving. Ray and Gavin went to follow but Rebecca stayed behind, looking at me. I still refused to meet her gaze, my feelings towards mixed up.

“You look really beautiful, Shay.” I heard her walking away and I released a shaking breath.

“C-could you tell everyone to leave please? I think we need to talk,” I said.

“Of course,” Ryan kissed my hand and turned to the others. “Ladies and gentlemen. If you don’t mind, I’m afraid the party will have to be cut a little short. My wife and I thank you very much for coming today and we apologize.” Everyone understood. They started clearing out immediately, some staying behind to help the catering crew clean up a bit. Once everyone was gone I headed upstairs, one of the additions Ryan had added, and into our bedroom. I changed from my dress into my signature all black outfit. Black jeans, black tank top and a leather jacket to finish it off. I had a spare pair of combat boots as well in the closet which I slipped on.

“Darling, you’re not thinking of going are you?” Ryan asked, coming up behind me.

“Jack said something serious was happening. I want to know.”

“It could be a trick,” Ryan pointed out.

“Yeah and you’re the Mad King. We’ll figure something out,” I turned to him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

“Okay. Let me get changed.” I nodded and headed downstairs to where we hid our weapons, taking a few guns and throwing knifes as well as some sticky bombs. Ryan came down dressed in his kilt and suit top, his crown resting on his head. He loaded up on his choice weapons before leading me out to our car. Once we were in we sped off for the docks. I took my phone out and called Reno.

“Get your comm ready,” I told him.

“What’s going on? Are you meeting with the crew?” Reno asked.

“Yes. Have some people on standby in case we need it.” I hung up and put an earpiece in, giving one to Ryan as well.

“ _Testing. Can you hear me?_ ” Reno’s voice came through.

“Loud and clear,” Ryan replied.

“ _You guys are insane you know that?”_

“That’s my wife for you,” Ryan smirked. When we got to the docks the Fake AH Crew was there, standing in a semi-circle. We got out of the car and made our way over to them. Becca was standing off to one side, watching.

“Mad King,” Geoff greeted, bowing. “I am sorry for ruining your wedding night but something very important has come up and I need your help.”

“First,” Ryan said. He had gotten very good at sound regal, like he belonged on a throne. “I want to hear both you and Michael apologize to my wife for almost killing her.”

“I am not responsible for Michael’s actions,” Geoff said. “But I will apologize for my actions. What I did was wrong, I shouldn’t have pushed you in that way Ryan. You reacted the way anyone else would in that situation and I can’t fault you for any of it. On behalf of my crew I want to say sorry for what we have done.”

“Now Michael.” Everyone turned to the curly hair lad. He stood tall, his eyes challenging Ryan before flicking over to Geoff who nodded at him.

“I…am sorry,” he ground out. “For trying to kill you and…her.” He made a small motion to me before glaring at the ground.

“Fine. Now, what is it that you want?” Ryan turned back to Geoff.

“ _Yeesh. That Michael guy has issues,_ ” Reno said.

“A new crew moved to town. An old enemy of ours. We thought we chased them off for good but it turns out they were only building an army. They’ve come back for blood. We can’t take them by ourselves,” Geoff explained.

“Oh? Would you give me their names? I should like to join this new crew,” Ryan smiled coldly.

“Ryan this is not funny.”

“Oh, I’m not laughing.”

“Alright, enough you two,” I snapped. “Why do you need us?”

“Because you are probably the only two who _can_ help us. Both of you are the most badass team I’ve ever come across. Alone you were lethal enough but now…” Geoff shook his head. “I would not want to cross you.”

“Funny you should say that,” I replied.

“Look, everything got out of control. I went too far. I am sorry. But we need you,” Geoff said. “Please.” Ryan and I exchanged looks, trying to decide what to do.

“ _I’m not picking up any movement of a new Crew,_ ” Reno said into our ears. “ _They might be staying under the radar for now but…_ ”

“Who are they?” Ryan asked.

“RT Cockbites.”


	2. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shayne and Ryan decide the best thing to do is bring Fake AH to their HQ to help explain the situation to everyone else.

RT Cockbites was known throughout the east coast as a gang to be reckoned with. They had numerous people working for them and had huge connections to a lot of powerful mob bosses. Apparently the ones who ran the Crew, Burnie, Gus, Matt and Joel, used to work with Geoff until they broke off one day, wanting to go off on their own. However their ego got to them and they wanted Geoff and his crew to leave so there wouldn’t be any competition. Geoff wouldn’t have any of it and a huge battle ensued. Geoff won and forced RT Cockbites out of the city but he always knew they would come back. Apparently they now felt as if they had a better chance than before and have already started sending threats to Geoff and the others, trying to make it clear they meant business.

I had sent Reno on an info job, wanting as much of an upper hand as we could get on these guys. Ryan called our Crew and informed them of the news, wanting everyone to assemble at our HQ as soon as possible. We decided to bring Fake AH along with us, which was a huge risk, but they would be able to give a better backstory than us. Our HQ was the warehouse we used for the heist on Roosters. Ryan had went ahead and completely bought it from the owners so we wouldn’t be interrupted. Our Crew was already there, along with Best Dressed Top Hats, and were awaiting our instructions. All of them became suspicious when Geoff and the others walked through the doors with us but Ryan soon calmed their nerves.

“There seems to be…a new crew in town,” Ryan explained. “And they won’t take kindly to our up and coming arrival as criminals. Geoff here has dealt with them before and I brought him here because he can tell us what they are like. We need to be prepared and this was the only way.” Ryan motioned to Geoff who stepped up beside Ryan and started the same story he had told us. Aqua came over to me and leaned against our planning table, crossing her arms. We had become closer over the months, both of us finding we liked the same things. She soon became not only a good alley but a good friend too and I really liked her. Strong and independent, she could probably take this whole room and not even break a sweat.

“We really believing this BS?” Aqua asked, leaning closer to me.

“I sent Reno to gather info,” I whispered back. “Geoff’s telling the truth. RT Cockbites is back for revenge and they won’t stop at any means to get it. If we help Geoff with this than he owes us which I very much like the idea of.”

_Just wait until his spitfire of a tank comes to kill us again._

Ah yes, my little voice. It hadn’t shut up at all over the last little while but it had calmed down a bit. I think it was because of Ryan. He was helping me get better any way he could and I loved him for it.

“Shay, if this crew wants Fake AH why not just hand them over?” Aqua raised an eyebrow. “It’d help out a lot wouldn’t it?”

“We’d be next,” I replied. “We’re starting to make a name for ourselves, my crew and yours. RT Cockbites wants no competition for this town.”

“Fuck…I don’t like this,” Aqua shook her head.

“I don’t either but we have no choice.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Becca staring over at us, a displeased look on her face.

_If you hadn’t betrayed us you’d be over here too bitch._

Never mind the fact that I pushed her into it.

_She could have chosen to not do it…_

“It’s still there, isn’t it?” Aqua asked, looking at me with concern. “Your voice.”

“Never goes away,” I sighed. “How’d you guess?”

“The look on your face and in your eyes,” she replied. “Whenever it pops up, your eyes kind of go cloudy and an annoyed look crosses your face.”

“Yeah well, you have a nagging voice in your head and tell me you don’t annoyed,” I replied, smirking.

“It would drive me insane,” she groaned.

“Already there,” I replied. She elbowed me and laughed quietly.

“So, we all understand?” Ryan spoke up, looking at our crew. “We’re in danger with RT Cockbites here and we, sadly, need to join forces with AH to get rid of them. I know it isn’t ideal but we’re going to need all the help we can get. Reno gathered some information and these guys mean business. They have a big crew but with all three of us,” Ryan gestured to Geoff, Aqua and himself. “We’re even bigger.”

“Not to mention the fact that one of your leaders is fucking insane and will probably be bombing them every chance she gets,” I said, going to stand beside my husband.

“Need any help?” Someone called, earning a chuckle from the others.

“So does this mean that they,” Saul motioned to Geoff. “Are going to be around more often.”

“Probably…” Ryan sighed.

“Contain some of your excitement Ryan, please,” Ray joked. Surprisingly, Ryan actually cracked a smile at that one before quickly hiding it. He had once told me that out of all of them, him and Ray had been the closest, the two just clicking together right away. I knew he missed that, missed joking around with Ray and staying behind to play video games while the others went to get drunk at a bar. After a few more questions were answered Ryan sent them back home, apologizing for such a late call, especially since everybody had just relaxed from the wedding. They seemed fine with it though. Our crew was good. They worked hard and they respected both Ryan and myself. When it was just us, Aqua, Saul and the Fake AH, Ryan turned to the map of the city hanging on the wall.

“So,” he began. “Reno believes that they are staying here.” He pointed to a point on the map which was on the other side of town from us. “However, I highly doubt they stay in one place for too long.”

“You’re right,” Geoff agreed, studying the map. “They like to move about, keep trackers off their tails.” I only half listened to their conversation, the day’s events leaving me extremely tired. To think, my wedding had only been two hours ago. It felt longer.

“Hey Ry?” Aqua said. “I’m taking your wife home. She looks ready to drop.” Ryan glanced over at me, worry filling his features.

“Yes, of course. I didn’t even think of how late it was getting,” Ryan shook his head and came over to me, placing a soft kiss on my forehead. “I won’t be too long.” He promised. I nodded and followed Aqua out of the warehouse towards her car.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You’ve had quite the day,” Aqua sighed. “I’m upset that this had to come in the way of your wedding. And now you probably won’t be going on that honeymoon.”

“Highly doubtful at this point,” I agreed, disappointment running through me. We had picked a small island to go to, Ryan saying they had really nice houses to rent that went along the beach. I really wanted to go but it could wait for now. My crew was more important than a honeymoon.

_Never thought you’d say that._

Neither did I. Honestly, I was starting to view them as a family. A big, fucked up family that did crimes for a living but still a family. I couldn’t remember what I had been so worried about before. We protected each other and were there if someone needed us. It was…nice. Having that extra back up whenever I needed it. Not to mention the fact that I’ve become pretty good friends with all of them. Going from one friend to a whole whack of them was startling but I liked it.

Aqua dropped me off at my place and I thanked her for the ride before heading in. I went straight upstairs, changing into something sexy, which happened to be a lacy black and red silk nightgown that ended just above my knees, before crawling in between the cool sheets. I hopped Ryan wouldn’t be too long. I wanted to at least get in the required night of sex on your wedding day. As I waited, I began thinking of all the things he would do to me. His hands roaming over every inch of my body, his lips kissing a trail to my shoulder, nibbling softly at my skin. His body, pressed against mine…

I heard the door unlock downstairs and my excitement grew even more. Heavy footsteps hit the stairs and then suddenly Ryan was filling the doorway, his shirt already off and being tossed to the ground.

“Well at least we actually got married before everything went to hell,” he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. He turned towards his dresser, undoing his pants as he went.

“Mm…I know how we can make up for it,” I said. I got out from under the covers and stood up, folding my arms behind my back.

“How’s that?” Ryan looked over his shoulder at me and paused, his eyes raking up and down my body. “I’m guessing I won’t be needing my pajama pants tonight.” He breathed.

“Nope.” He dropped his pants and came over to me, wrapping me up in his arms and pulling me close. His lips descended on mine, hungry and demanding. Ryan started walking forwards, forcing me back onto the bed so he could crawl on top. My hands tangled in his hair as my legs wrapped around him. He slipped a hand under my nightgown and groaned when he felt I wasn’t wearing anything under it. He kept moving his hand up until it cupped my breast, squeezing softly. He stopped kissing me in favor of lowering his head and capturing one of my nipples between his lips through the thin fabric of my nightgown. I moaned and arched my back as he teased me, shockwaves rolling through me and settling between my legs. I reached down and ran a nail down Ryan’s length, making him freeze for a moment. As I kept doing it he started thrusting against me, trying to get more friction going. I grinned softly when he finally gave up and sat up, removing his underwear. Without saying a word he quickly thrust into me, giving me no time to adjust before he started moving. I threw my head back as wave after wave of pleasure went through me, bringing me closer to the edge. Ryan was letting out a string of curses, his eyes screwed shut as he pounded into me. I dragged my nails down his back, loud moans spilling from me. I raised my hips up more, Ryan starting to hit that one spot that had me instantly unravelling around him, pulling him with me as I came. We both laid there, panting, for a few moments before Ryan moved us so we were laying down on the pillows. I snuggled close to him, resting my head on his chest, while his fingers lazily drew designs on my arm.

“Mm…sex is definitely better when married,” Ryan hummed.

“Oh, so it wasn’t good before?” I poked his stomach.

“It was great before,” Ryan replied. “But now it’s better, knowing that you are completely mine.”

“I was completely yours the first day we met,” I giggled.

“And I yours.” We drifted off to sleep soon after that, both of us wanting a good night’s sleep since tomorrow only promised more work. I knew our lives were completely fucked up right from the beginning but I never expected we’d be calling out war against another Crew _or_ joining with a Crew that had tried to kills us multiple times. Fake AH was hardly trustworthy and I wouldn’t put it past them to be in cahoots with RT Cockbites to try and bring Ryan and I down. I was going to keep my eye on them, and if I couldn’t have someone else ready to do it, just to make sure that all went smoothly. If this did happen to be another trap, I would personally see to their death. Nobody fucks up my honeymoon and gets away with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And trust me there shall be consequences for ruining a good honeymoon damn it!


	3. It's All About Connections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RT Cockbites pays a little visit to Shay and she finds out some...interesting news.

The next morning I was rudely awoken by pounding on the front door. Groaning, I rolled over and checked the time. Almost six thirty. Ryan stirred beside me before getting up, putting on a pair of sweats and heading downstairs. I heard the door open and Ryan’s angry voice before heavy footsteps sounded throughout the house. Great. We had guests. I sighed and got up, jumping into the shower quickly before throwing on some jeans and a tank top. I hurried downstairs and found the Fake AH Crew chilling out in my living room.

“Shay!” Gavin greeted and bounded over to me. “I’m so glad we get to work together and hopefully put our differences behind us.”

“Like that’s going to happen,” I muttered, leaning against the door frame. “So first you interrupt my wedding and now you interrupt my sleep. You better have a good explanation.” Ryan came around the corner from the kitchen, handing me a cup of coffee before sitting in one of our chairs.

“We do, actually,” Geoff said. “Our lovely informant Becca here has found some interesting information.” My eyes barely glanced over at Becca who was standing behind the couch. “Apparently RT Cockbites wants to hire the Funhaus crew to help out. Of course Funhaus is loyal to us so they won’t do it but we could make it seem like they want to and then have some guys on the inside.”

“Why? You just want to scare these guys off again,” I said. “Just find where they are, head in guns a blazing and force them back out to the coast. No intricate plans needed.”

“It’s not that simple,” Becca spoke up. “They would expect something like that. And we don’t just want to scare them off. We want them gone. For good.”

“I never thought I’d be starting a war this early in my career,” Ryan sighed.

“You’re not,” I replied. “They are. We are just collateral damage for them.”

“Stop being so dramatic Shay,” Becca sighed.

“Look you agreed to help us,” Geoff pointed out.

“Yes but I’m not going to be blamed when things go bad,” I snarled. “The first sign of trouble for my crew and we’re gone.” Geoff looked at Ryan, hoping he’d intervene, but Ryan stayed quiet.

“Since when did you get like this?” Becca demanded. “Crazy Shayne, always going off and doing shit that’ll get her killed. Never wanted relationships, never wanted a crew. Now look at you.”

“Huh, guess you never really know a person, do you?” I snapped, glaring at her. “I’m not the only one who is going to back out at the first sign of danger. Aqua will not risk her crew like that. I’m surprised you’re even considering it Geoff.” My eyes met his and he shrugged.

“This is my turf. I gotta protect it. The boys understand.” The others nodded and I shook my head.

“Regardless, I want to get this over with as quickly as possible,” Ryan said. “I don’t care what you do to draw them out, just do it quickly.”

“Alright. Sorry we woke you up,” Geoff held his hands up. “Also I want to take these idiots out shooting one night. There’s a clearing not too far from town, we won’t be bothered. Wanna join? You can bring a few extras. Whoever wants to practice their hand.”

“We’ll think about it,” Ryan said. Geoff nodded and got up, motioning for the others to follow them. Ray was the only one who stayed behind, casting glances at me. I took the hint and headed for the kitchen, giving Ray and Ryan a moment to talk. I set to work making breakfast, listening to the quiet murmur of Ryan and Ray’s voice in the other room. I decided on pancakes, pulling the box mix we had out of the cupboard and the other things I needed.

“Shay?” I glanced up from the mixing bowl and saw Becca standing there. She had changed over the past few months. Her once long and wavy dark hair was now cut short, her tattoo of the Fake AH Crew symbol showing brightly against her skin. She had dark makeup on as well, her eyelids covered in a smoky eyeshadow and dark red lipstick decorated her mouth. She was completely different. But then again, so was I.

“Did you lose the door?” I asked, turning back to making breakfast. Despite the fact that I had been missing her, I couldn’t forget how she turned on me. How she offered me to the Fake AH Crew willingly practically signing my death certificate.

“I was hoping we could talk,” she said. “It’s been a while, since we last saw each other.”

“Could have been longer.” I put some butter in a hot pan and started ladling out scoops of pancake mix into to.

“Look, I know you’re still upset with me. You have every right to be,” Becca walked closer to me, leaning on the counter right beside the stove. “But I want to try and get over that. We could go back to the way we used to be. Movie nights, late afternoon coffee, just hanging out and _talking._ I miss that Shay.” I briefly wondered if this was the exact conversation Ryan and Ray were having at the moment. I flipped the pancakes, keeping quiet. I didn’t trust people as a rule and before I met Ryan, Becca had been the only person I allowed to be close to me. She knew that and for her to take that and just throw it to the wind…

_It’s not like you slept with the man she had a crush on or anything._

Still bringing that up, eh?

_Well it’s true._

“Shay?”

“Shay!” A new voice sang out. Aqua came strolling into the kitchen, dressed amazingly as always, a huge grin on her face. “You promised we would go shopping today.” She stopped when she saw Becca, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“I didn’t forget A,” I chuckled. “I’m just making breakfast. We got a rude awakening this morning.”

“Jesus, first your wedding and now your sleep. What next?”

“That’s what I said!” I replied. I piled some pancakes onto a plate and started making another batch.

“Well I can see this is a bad time,” Becca said. “We’ll have to talk another time when you aren’t busy.” She headed for the door, Ray meeting her there. They headed out without saying anything. Ryan joined Aqua and I in the kitchen and I could tell the conversation between him and Ray had gone better than mine and Becca’s.

“Awe did someone get their drinking buddy back?” Aqua teased.

“I don’t drink,” he replied. He started setting the table as I finished making the rest of the pancakes. As we ate, the three of us discussed what we were going to do about this new crew. What I had said was true, Aqua wasn’t about to risk the life of her crew for our enemies. She was interested in going out to this supposed shooting range since the ones in town were too small for her liking. After breakfast I ran upstairs to grab my purse and then Aqua and I headed out to the mall. Since getting engaged I had been a bit too busy to go out and have fun so I promised Aqua as soon as the wedding was over we’d do just that. She took it in the literal sense and made plans for the day after said wedding. I swear that girl never got tired.

The rest of the day passed by fairly quickly. We shopped until we literally dropped into some seats in the food court, grabbing a late lunch before Aqua took me back. Ryan was out doing a bit of recon on RT Cockbites with some of the guys so I had the house to myself. Aqua offered to stay but I told her to go home and get some rest. Once I was alone I put the things I had bought away; a few shirts, some movies and a couple of books. When that was done I tried to decide what to make for dinner when the sound of car doors closing caught my attention. I glanced at the clock, wondering why Ryan was home so early but when the door opened, it wasn’t my husband I saw. Two men, one with short blonde hair and one with black hair that was going all over the placed, stepped into the house. They spotted me instantly and pulled their guns out. Before they could shoot I was diving out of the way, heading into the living room where Ryan kept a gun stashed away. I grabbed it and dove behind the couch, waiting for the men to show up. Heavy footsteps sounded at the entrance and I poked my head out from one side of my cover, firing off a few quick shots before hiding again. I felt a wave of pride as I heard one yell out in pain.

“Bitch,” he said through gritted teeth. “You’ll fucking pay for that.”

“What do you want?” I demanded. “If you’re looking to rob me, you’ve picked the wrong house my friend.”

“We don’t want to rob you,” the other said. “We just want to leave a message. For Geoff.”

“Then why don’t you go find a pen and paper,” I replied.

_Yeah that’s right. Be sarcastic. That’s worked so well in the past._

“You stay out of this,” I mumbled.

“Why don’t you be a nice little kitty and come out? We promise we won’t hurt you.”

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you,” I called. One of them started moving around the couch so I quickly jumped up and fired off a few shots. I hit him in the arm, making him drop his gun. As soon as he was disarmed I aimed at the first guy I hit, the one with the black hair. His leg was bleeding quite a bit and already he was looking pale.

“Jesus, they weren’t kidding when they said you had good aim,” the one with black hair hissed out.

“They?” I asked.

“What, you haven’t pieced it together yet?” Blondie asked. “We’re RT Cockbites baby. He’s Joel, and I’m Matt and we _were_ planning on having a bit of fun here but since you’ve ruined that plan we’ll have to call in some reinforcements.” He pulled a phone out and hit a button and I started to panic a little bit. I swung my gun back at him and shot at the phone but I already knew it was too late. There was a moment of silence before the front door burst open and more men came plowing in, all of them with their guns trained on me.

“Search the house!” Matt commanded and half of the group broke off. Someone came forward and started tending to Joel, getting him out of the house. A few men came at me and I knew it was useless to try and take them all. I let them take my gun as one yanked my arms behind me, pinning them to my back as he forced me to my knees. Matt came over, smirking. “Tell Geoff we want him gone.” He said before he raised his gun and hit the side of my head with the butt of it. Sharp pain racked through my entire body as the world went dark.

 

“Shay! Shay! Shay wake up! Come on baby wake up!” Ryan’s voice floated through my head and I felt myself being shaken slightly which did wonders for the headache I was currently sporting. I groaned and tried to swat his hands away. I squinted my eyes open, wincing at the bright light.

“Ry…?” My husband’s face filled my vision, relief written all over it. “What…?”

“Don’t move baby. You got hit pretty hard.” A new face joined Ryan’s and I recognized Anne, our crew’s medic, as she started feeling around my head gently. When she hit on left side temple I hissed in pain, squeezing my eyes shut.

“You’re going to have a nasty bruise there,” she said. “And you have one on your side too so I’m thinking they might have kicked you. I just to make sure nothing else is damaged so I’m going to do a bit of poking around, okay?”

“Kay…” I rasped out. My throat was dry and I was greatful when somebody handed me a glass of water. I was surprised to find the house almost completely filled with people, all of them milling about and looking grim. “Why’s everybody here?” I asked.

“Because RT Cockbites attacked you,” Geoff stepped into my view. “And I wanted this house searched in case they left any surprises. Plus, they were all worried about you.” Anne pulled a stethoscope out, placing it over my chest. She first listened to my lungs, making sure a rib wasn’t broken and brushing up against them. As she did that I focused on what Ryan and Geoff were talking about.

“How did they find out so quickly that you came to us asking for help?” Ryan demanded.

“I don’t know,” Geoff answered. “I really don’t. They just got here, they shouldn’t have a network set up already.”

“Unless they already had one sitting around and waiting for them to return,” Aqua joined them, crossing her arms. “It wouldn’t be hard to leave a few behind and keep tabs on everything going on.”

“Wait. How did you guys find out it was RT?” I asked.

“They left a calling card,” Geoff replied, showing me a note that had a rooster and a pair of those stupid wind up teeth on it. The note was simple and it was directed at Ryan and myself. It stated that we were making a mistake in helping Geoff and that was it. “Did they say anything to you before they knocked you out?”

“Yeah…” I nodded slowly. “The blonde one…Matt…he said they wanted you gone.” Before Geoff could speak Anne glanced up on me, a confused look in her eyes.

“Shay, are you by any chance a Time Lord?” She asked.

“A what?” Ryan said, turning to look at her.

“A Time Lord. You know…from Doctor Who?” Anne replied.

“Not that I’m aware of…why?” I said slowly. I had watched a few episodes from that show and I tried very hard to come up with a reason why she was asking.

“Well, and I don’t want to alarm you, but you have two heartbeats.”

“I-” I was left speechless. Two heartbeats could only mean one thing…

“Wait a second,” Ryan said. “Are you saying my wife is pregnant?” Oh, there was the word I was looking for and hoping I wouldn’t hear.

_Oh great. Another thing to look after._

“Well…yes,” Anne nodded. “There are two very distinct heartbeats. I think we should take her to a hospital.” There was a beat of silence and then Aqua was helping me up.

“Alright, I’m on the job!” She said.

“Shouldn’t I be going with her?” Ryan demanded.

“You stay here dad and figure out how to get revenge. I’ll call.” She and Anne whisked me outside and into Aqua’s car.

“I can’t be pregnant,” I whispered as Aqua slid into the driver’s side. Anne reached through the two seats and gave my arm a squeeze.

“Well, it looks like you are kid,” Aqua replied.

“No. Aqua. I can’t be pregnant,” I said again. “What kind of life could I give a kid? I’m a fucking crew boss! I rob and do dangerous heists for a living! I’ve got nothing else!”

“You’ll figure it out,” she said, shooting me a smile as we headed for the hospital.

“And what about what just happened?” I continued. “Anne, you said I got kicked in the side. Could that have hurt it?”

“That’s why we’re heading to a hospital boss,” she replied quietly. “I want to make sure.”

_Well fuck. Just found out and you’ve probably already damaged the kid. Good job mom._

I inwardly groaned and yelled at my little voice to shut up. The baby would be alright. It had to be. If Anne could hear a steady heartbeat then all was well. I hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh what an interesting turn of events. Actually, I kind of surprised myself at how fast I introduced this into the story. This chapter was going to go a completely different angle but my hands and brain aren't connected right so I think the message got stuck somewhere.


	4. Revenge is bitter sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shay gets good news and heads back to HQ only to find teams set up to find RT Cockbites and end everything at once. However, things don't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you're gonna hate me for this....

“Well Mrs. Haywood it looks like your baby is going to be okay,” the doctor smiled at me. “You have nothing to worry about.”

“Thank you,” I smiled weakly back at him. He excused himself and left Aqua, Anne and I in the room. Aqua pulled her phone out and texted Ryan, telling him all was well and then we headed back out to the car. As I got settled into the passenger seat I placed a hand over my stomach. Pregnant. With a completely healthy baby.

“Come on Shay, be happy!” Aqua said, glancing over at me. “The little kiddo will be a chip off the old block.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” I sighed.

“Hey,” Aqua patted my shoulder. “It’ll be fine. Your kid will have an awesome life with awesome parents who know how to kick ass.” When we got to my house everyone else was gone. Aqua dropped my off at the gates and then took off after Anne had settled into the passenger seat. Sighing, I opened the front gates and headed up to the house where Ryan was waiting on the porch, a worried look on his face.

“Shay,” he breathed when I got closer and scooped my up in his arms. “It’s true? The baby is fine?”

“Yeah,” I nodded, hugging him back.

“Oh god,” Ryan sighed. “This was unexpected, wasn’t it?”

“I’m not surprised,” I replied. “The way we’ve been going at it the past few months?” Ryan laughed quietly.

“Yeah I suppose you’re right,” he took my hand and led me inside, bringing me to the kitchen so he could fix us a snack. “Darling, you know what this means right?”

“That you’re going to be my big, strong husband and make sure I stay out of danger?” I said in a sweet voice, batting my eyes at him.

“Shayne I’m serious,” Ryan warned. “You were lucky today but a few months from now? We need to be careful.”

“Ryan,” I said, looking him dead in the eye. “You cannot expect me to sit around for nine months doing _nothing._ I will go insane.”

“You don’t have to sit around you just have to be…more careful,” Ryan shook his head. “Let me handle the heists. You can do intel and getaways. And now that we have a target on us I need you to be safe now more than ever. You have no idea the pain I went through when I almost lost you. To go through that again, and now ever more so because our child is involved, I will lose my mind and there will be nothing left of this city or the Ryan you know. Please.” Ryan grabbed my upper arms, his stare practically drilling holes into my head. “Just be more careful.”

For the past few months both Ryan and I have been noticing a change in his behavior. While he wasn’t exactly all there in the head when we first met he was still sane, able to think rationally about dangerous situations and making the right calls on them. However, once he was basically given free roam over the city and all the weapons he could imagine having, something clicked. Or snapped. Even unplugged if you will. It started with random killing sprees, the first one happening a few days after our engagement. He went out to rob a bank and about thirty people in that area were found dead, a bullet in their heads. After that he would just go out and kill people for fun, no matter who they were. A few times I had to go and get him before the cops found him. He would have blood all over him and he would always be smiling. He was becoming more like me and it was terrifying.

“Okay,” I nodded. “I’ll be more careful.” Ryan sighed in relief and crushed me to his chest. After that he finished making us a light lunch and then drove us to our HQ where the others were waiting and already forming a plan. Saul and Reno were leading, pointing out different areas where they believed RT Cockbites was hiding.

“They will be expecting us to do something in retaliation so it’s best to act now, in strong numbers, while they are on the defense!” Saul said. “Five groups of twenty will hit each spot. If you find no one at your location you go the next one closest to you.”

“And what if they are not at any of these locations?” Someone asked.

“They will be,” Reno replied. “There have been multiple sightings of them in these areas.”

“What if that was all a set up?”

“The other areas are owned by us and Fake AH Crew,” Reno shook his head. “They aren’t stupid enough to settled in enemy territory.”

“Alright so when will you be ready to go?” I asked.

“Shay!” Saul and Reno cried and ran at me, scooping me up in a bear hug.

“Get off me!” I yelled. “Ryan!”

“Nope, you’re on your own.” Ryan laughed.

“What was that whole thing about being more careful then?!” I demanded.

“Meh, they aren’t really any danger,” Ryan shrugged and walked away. Sighing, I elbowed Reno and Saul in the stomach, forcing them to let go.

“Come on Shay!” Saul wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “You can keep track of us through the coms!”

“So you guys are planning a revenge hit and I have to stay behind,” I pouted. “I can’t do this for the next nine months.”

“Yes you can,” Reno ruffled my hair. “We’ll just have to keep you occupied somehow.” I sighed again and let them sit me down in a chair beside the planning table. Ryan rested his hand on my shoulder as he listened to what Saul and Reno were planning. I noticed that the Fake AH Crew was also there and that my crew seemed more at ease with them than they had before. Amazing the enemy of our enemy could bring us all together.

“If we are all clear then the groups will head out now,” Geoff said. “Let’s go get those bastards.” Once the teams were gone it was just Ryan, Geoff, Ray, Rebecca and myself. The intel group was working hard on keeping the guys updated on any changes and just making sure things were going as planned so I didn’t really count them as ‘there’. Anyone else who weren’t part of the groups going to find the Fake AH Crew had gone off to do their own things until they were needed.

“Ryan,” Geoff came over to us. “Just want to congratulate you on the news.” He clapped Ryan on the back.

“Yeah that’s all we need,” Ray shook his head. “A mini Ryan running around.”

“Hey watch it kid,” Ryan said. “I am not afraid to set my child on you. You’ll be stuck with babysitting duties.”

“Oh god no!” Ray whined. “Anything but that! I hate kids!”

“Exactly. So you’ll be perfect,” Ryan grinned.

“Hey how come he gets to be forgiven and I don’t?” Geoff yelled.

“Because it wasn’t my idea to kill his girlfriend!” Ray shouted back. “Plus R and R Connection man! We gotta stick together! Who else is going to not take me drinking on Saturday nights?”

“Yeah but I’ve been apologizing for days now!” Geoff sighed.

“Well maybe you just aren’t good at apologizing!”

“Ladies, ladies please,” Ryan held up his hands. “There is enough of me to go around.”

“No there isn’t!” I cut in. “I am not sharing you with anyone else!”

“Oh now I have to fight the wife for him,” Geoff shook his head.

“You had to fight her for him long before they got married,” Ray pointed out. “Shay as long as I get to steal him for a few hours on the weekends so I can kick his ass on Halo I won’t be a problem.”

“Maybe,” I replied. “Depends on if I can kick _your_ ass in Halo.”

“I like her!” Ray laughed.

“First time is reaching the location sir,” someone from intel called to us.

“Keep us updated,” Ryan replied. “Where are the others?”

“Second team will be reaching their target in a few minutes. Same with the other three.”

“First team is clear,” someone else said. “They’re heading over to team two’s location. Hang on…something…something’s wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Ryan demanded, going over to them.

“The computers-” before he could finish his sentence, all the computers shut down. A few seconds later they rebooted to show a smiling face.

“Well hello there Mad King and Queen,” the person on the screens said. “I am sorry about your computers but we had to find a way to give this message. Your teams will now be experiencing problems with their coms and team five will find a warehouse full of our men. We warned you not to get involved with Fake AH Crew and you chose to ignore us. However I will say the methods of my colleagues was not what I intended. I do hope Shadow is okay and the baby as well. Listen. Our problem does not lie with you and your crew Mr. Haywood. We just want what’s our and that is the territory currently owned by a Mr. Geoff Ramsey. Now I’m willing to talk about this like civilians and work out a solution but if you send any more men to attack us then they will end up like your poor team five. Until then.” The screens went black again and there was a beat before Geoff roared and stormed off to the parking lot.

“Who was that?” I demanded, running after him with Ryan right beside me.

“Burnie,” Geoff growled. “Get those fucking coms working!” He called behind us.

“Who was on team five?” Ryan asked.

“Gavin, Michael and a few of your boys. So was Reno.” Geoff replied, sliding into his car. We got in as well and the three of us sped off to where team five had been heading. Ryan called ahead to the other teams and told them to meet us there. The spot team five was in charge of was an old warehouse, just before city limits, and when we got there everything was quiet. We saw the two vans team five had taken but there was nobody around.

“Shay, stay in here,” Ryan commanded, getting his gun out.

“Fuck that,” I snorted and followed suit. He just rolled his eyes, knowing better than to argue with me. The three of us slowly made our way to the warehouse, watching for any signs of movement. Bracing himself, Geoff opened the door and was met with silence. We crept inside and immediately saw the bodies.

“Oh god…” Geoff whispered. Another one of our vans pulled into the lot and joined us, the people going through the building and checking any rooms and dark corners. Once the building was secure we started checking on the people laying on the ground. Almost everyone was dead or close to it, those still alive getting medical treatment right away. Geoff found Gavin and Michael still alive, both suffering from blood loss but alive. I searched frantically for a familiar red head but it wasn’t until I got to the back of the building that I found him. He was lying face down, a pool of blood surrounding his body.

“R?” I called. No answer. “Reno?” I tried again. I knelt beside him and shook him. “Reno come on.” Gently, I flipped him over so his head was resting in my lap. His eyes were closed and if it wasn’t for the multiple bullets in his chest I would have believed him to be sleeping. “Come on R you gotta wake up. Saul’s going to be here any minute and if he sees you slacking off you know what he’ll do.” Tears stung my eyes as I leaned down and placed my ear above his mouth.

“Shay?” Ryan came up behind me.

“I can’t hear him breathing,” I said in a whispered. Ryan knelt down beside me and placed two fingers on Reno’s neck. The tears started to fall and I bit my lip. Footsteps sounded behind us and I turned to see Saul coming up, a smile on his face.

“There he is! I knew I’d find the little shit hiding from…the…action…” Saul looked from my face to Reno’s and his smile fell. “S…what…”

“There isn’t any pulse,” Ryan said quietly.

“No…” Saul fell beside me. “The fucker. I told him to stay behind. He’s a computer genius not a fighter.” I smoothed Reno’s hair back. Even to battle he wore a fucking suit. The idiot. I barely noticed that Ryan got up and moved back to the other room, giving us space. Saul reached out and patted Reno’s shoulder. “Okay buddy. You just rest easy now, okay?” His voice cracked and I leaned my head on his shoulder, trying to give him some support.

_We are going to tear them apart, limb by limb and ship the remains to whatever family members these fuckers have. Reno will be avenged._

For once, it was only my voice that spoke those words.


	5. Restless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan is getting bored and he needs something to keep him busy

The next day we held a memorial. Not just for Reno, but for everyone we lost on that mission. There was only a very small handful of people who survived the fight, some of them later dying during surgery or on the way to the hospital. They were buried and everyone came back to the house, just to say their condolences and tell a few stories about the lost members. Some of them had been really close, working as partners in crime way before joining our crews.

I stayed in my room the whole time, not wanting to be around the horde of people in my house. Ryan came up and checked on me, bringing me some tea and making sure I didn’t need anything. At one point Saul came up and he just sat on the floor beside the bed, neither of us saying anything. When everyone downstairs left, Ryan came up to give us the okay and we made our way downstairs. Only Aqua and Geoff were left, both of them wanting to stick around and help out any way they could.

“This is my fault,” Geoff sighed. “We lost a lot of good people out there today and I was the one who led them straight to their gallows. How could I have underestimated the enemy that badly?”

“Hey, we all make mistakes,” Aqua said. “I’ve lost people too due to miscalculations. You just have to learn from your mistakes.”

“Yeah but they weren’t my guys,” Geoff replied. “Only two of my crew members were on that team. The rest were yours and Ryan’s.”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up over it,” Ryan spoke up. “We all made a mistake yesterday. We will learn from it and try to come up with a better plan.”

“They’ll have moved by now,” I said in a hollow voice. “They could be anywhere. I say we make them come to us.”

“That…is actually a good idea,” Geoff said.

“Just lay low,” I continued. “Don’t do anything to get in the news. Radio silence. When they start to notice we’ve completely erased ourselves from the media they’ll come snooping around.”

“Alright then,” Aqua nodded. “We have a plan. Now, if you excuse me I have to go and take care of Reno’s things.” She got up and headed for the door. “Saul?” He just grunted and followed her outside.

“I better go check on my boys,” Geoff sighed. He patted my shoulder and nodded to Ryan before leaving us alone.

“Shay,” Ryan pulled me to the couch and wrapped his arms around me. “Honey I know you probably don’t feel like it but do you want something to eat? You haven’t had anything since yesterday morning.” While he was right about me not wanting to eat, he was also right about how long it’s been. I was starting to feel light-headed and just the thought of food made my stomach growl.

“Could you order a pizza?” I asked quietly.

“Yes! Of course,” Ryan kissed my forehead. “Breadsticks too?”

“Cheesy ones,” I nodded. “Extra sauce to dip.” Ryan got up and headed for the kitchen to place the order. I grabbed the remote and turned on the TV before starting my PlayStation up and turning Netflix on. I flipped through the favorites until I landed on one I hadn’t watched in a while. ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ was the one of the few movies that I could watch endlessly and never get bored with. I waited for Ryan to return before starting the movie, curling up into his side and resting my head on his shoulder. It was nice, doing something mundane. We both lived dangerous lives so being able to just sit back and relax was fine by me. When the pizza came, Ryan got up and paid for it, bringing it back into the living room and setting it down on the coffee table. I dug in as soon as he sat back down, suddenly realising how hungry I was. Ryan just laughed quietly and started eating too.

We spent the rest of the day like that, curled up on the couch watching movies and just hanging out. I think we both needed it after the last few days. I ended up falling asleep, my head resting in Ryan’s lap. I expected it to be filled with nightmares but it was strangely peaceful. I woke up slightly only to find Ryan carrying me up to bed and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light again.

 

“I’m bored!”

“Go do some yard work.”

“I’m not that bored.”

“Then go do something else. A swim, read a book maybe.”

“Oh come on! We haven’t done a heist in weeks! I wanna go out!”

“Ryan,” I sighed. “No. We want to draw RT Cockbites out and this is the only way. We have to wait for them to make a move.”

“Just a small one?” Ryan begged. “Please? It’ll just be me and Ray. Nobody will know it’s us! I swear!”

“Ryan,” I shook my head. It had been about a week since we all decided to just lay low for the time being but all of us were getting antsy. We knew it would take a while before RT Cockbites did anything but we were known for pulling heists every week, no matter how small the place was. Plus, Ryan was right. It had been a while since our last heist and a lot of our crew member’s depended on that money in order to survive. “If you can promise it will be small, with next to no deaths, then go ahead. But please be careful.”

“I will, I promise,” he came over to me and kissed my cheek. “I love you.”

“Go,” I laughed, swatting him away. He bounded out the door, a grin on his face as he called Ray.

**Ryan’s POV**

“Dude, you look stupid,” Ray said, looking up at the older gent.

“What? No I don’t,” Ryan shook his head. “I look cool!”

“Why did you have to go and get that?” Ray asked.

“Because Shay doesn’t want us being seen,” Ryan explained. “So I decided a new look was needed.” He was currently wearing a black skull mask that covered his entire head. The rubber was warm on the inside but it wasn’t too uncomfortable. Ryan had also put on black face makeup around his eyes so only his eyeballs were visible through the two holes. He had also gone and bought a black leather jacket with blue and silver stripes on the arms. He thought he looked really good in it.

“Whatever man,” Ray sighed. “You do you.”

“I got you one too!” Ryan grinned beneath the mask and tossed a bag to Ray.

“No.”

“Oh come on!”

“No.”

“Ray!”

“No.”

“You want my wife to come after you because your face was in the news?”

“…fuck.”

 

Ray held the shop clerk at gunpoint while Ryan stuffed the money into a bag. It was a nice haul, considering how small the store was. This was the third place they had hit up, Ryan wanting to get enough to pay his crew for all the shit he’s put them through. Ray was fine with it. He too needed heists like he needed air. They were his entire life now and while he respected Geoff and hated going against his wishes, Ray needed the adrenaline high. Plus he needed cash for more weed.

“Thanks man,” Ray said to the store clerk before knocking him out. “You’re doing this city a real service.”

“Damn right he is,” Ryan chuckled. They got into Ray’s piece of shit car and started driving around. “I still feel…unsatisfied.”

“I know what you mean man. We need something bigger.” Ray nodded, stopping at a red light.

“But what?” Ryan asked out loud.

“How about that?” Ray pointed to an armoured truck that drove past them, the name of a bank written on the side.

“Perfect,” Ryan grinned. Ray started following the truck, keeping just enough distance between the two vehicles.

“I have some bombs in a bag back there,” Ray said. Ryan reached around his seat and found the bag Ray was talking about, pulling out a few sticky bombs. “Ready?”

“Fuck yes.” Ryan nodded. Ray sped up and brought his car up to the armoured truck, almost touching the bumper. Ryan rolled his window down and threw a few bombs, waiting for Ray to slam on the breaks before setting them off. The explosion was beautiful and it caused the truck to hit a tree. Ryan and Ray got out, running as fast as they could to get to the truck. The two guards got out and Ryan quickly got rid of them as Ray climbed into the back and threw bag after bag of cash out of the truck. There were six in total, Ryan grabbing four while Ray took the other two. They high tailed it to the car and threw the money in the back. Just as Ray took off a bunch of cop cars rounded the corner and started chasing them.

“Go faster!” Ryan yelled, throwing a few bombs out the window to try and get rid of the cops. Bullets flew past them, a few hitting the back window.

“I’m trying! This car sucks!” Ray yelled back.

“Then why did you pick it?”

“Because I didn’t think we’d be doing a car chase today!” Ray replied, laughing. “Hang on!” He started weaving in and out of traffic, taking all sorts of random turns before heading onto the highway. The sirens were distant now, having lost them after Ray made a little traffic jam. Ryan’s heart was beating fast, the rush of a car chase exhilarating him to no end.

“Fuck,” he breathed. “I almost forgot how much fun this is.”

“How long have you guys been going heist less?” Ray asked.

“A while now,” Ryan replied. “We were planning one but then you guys came and fucked everything up. Plus there was the wedding too so that got in the way. Where we going anyways?”

“I know a spot not too far of a drive from town,” Ray said. “It’s my little hidey hole for when the Crew has to split up until we aren’t wanted anymore. Figured we could go there and shoot the shit, listen to the cop radio until we have the all clear.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ryan nodded. He pulled his mask off and stuffed it into one of the jacket pockets. They drove in silence until Ray pulled into a hidden driveway which led to a clearing. It was nice, beautiful actually. Wild flowers growing everywhere, the trees forming a perfect circle. It was really calming. Once parked, Ray turned on his radio and they started listening to the police. Already they were the talk of the town.

“Any signs of them?”

“None yet.”

“Three stores and an armoured truck. Can you believe it? The nerve of these punks.”

“Think it was Fake AH or Mad King?”

“Nah. Witnesses said these two were wearing masks. Nobody in those crews wears masks.”

“Must be some new kids on the block then.”

“Idiots,” Ray snorted. “I’m gonna have to get rid of this car, aren’t I?”

“’Fraid so buddy,” Ryan replied. “Don’t worry. You can afford another shitty car.”

“Yeah, but me and ol’ Ginger here had a few good runs,” Ray patted the car’s dash.

“Ginger?” Ryan asked.

“Just came up with that name now,” Ray admitted. “Tell the truth I don’t like it. Never let me name a car again.”

“Done.” Ryan laughed.

“Alright, all units off. We aren’t going to find those kids. Someone call the highway patrol though. You never know.”

“That’s our cue big guy,” Ray said, getting out of the car. He pulled half of the bags of money out of the back before putting some sticky bombs around the outside. “Have someone to call?”

“Yeah…she’s going to be pissed though,” Ryan said, grabbing the rest of the bags. “Wait till she gets here before setting this thing off.” He pulled his phone out and dialed Shay’s number.

“Hello Ryan,” she said. He winced at the tone of her voice. So she already knew what they had been up too.

“Hi dear,” he replied.

“Dear.” Ray snickered.

“Can you come pick us up?” Ryan asked Shay who sighed.

“Why am I not surprised?” She said to herself. “That’s what you get for being in a relationship. Problems, problems, problems.” Her voice changed when she said that, turning low and flat. Ryan didn’t think she realised it but whenever that little voice in her head spoke up, Shay ended up speaking out loud. It wasn’t all the time and had actually died down a bit but she still did it. Ryan never said anything about it because he knew it would upset her, and he asked the others to do the same. The last thing his wife needed was to know her little voice could be heard outside of the safety of her mind. Even if her mind wasn’t all that safe anyways.

“Thank you, love,” Ryan said instead.

“You’re lucky you’re cute.” Shay replied. Ryan gave her directions to his location and hung up, going to lean against a tree to wait. About half an hour later Shay showed up, not exactly pleased about the outcome of the day. She watched the two guys load the money into the trunk of her car before getting in. Just as they got to the end of the driveway, Ray blew his car up. Shay sped away from the clearing and headed back to the house where Ray called for one the Fake AH members to come pick him up.

“I had fun today,” Ray said after hanging up. “We should do that again sometime.”

“Yes, we should,” Ryan grinned. He handed Ray one of the bags of money, the younger man only accepting that much no matter how hard Ryan tried to get him to take more.

“R and R Connection!” Ray yelled before leaving. Ryan just shook his head and turned back to Shay who stood with her arms crossed, glaring up at him.

“I have two things to say,” she told him. “One, what the fuck happened to being careful? Two, what the fuck are you wearing?”

“Hi Shayne, how was your day?” Ryan asked, wrapping his arms around her. He brushed her red hair away from her face and started placing soft kisses anywhere he could reach. “I missed you.”

“You aren’t answering me.”

“I’m sorry,” Ryan sighed. “We went a little overboard but it was worth it! We can give people paychecks this week!”

“You do know we have enough money for everyone to last a few months, right?” Shay asked.

“As for the get up…well you didn’t want our faces in the news so I decided a new look was needed,” he pulled his mask out and put it on. “See? Nobody could tell it was me.” Shay stared at him for a moment, her eyes raking over his body.

“Why do you suddenly look ten times hotter?” She asked.

“Maybe because I’m wearing leather?” Ryan said.

“No…I think it’s because the mask his hiding your idiotic face,” she turned around and headed for the living room, plopping down on the couch. Ryan stalked after her, standing beside the couch and staring down at Shay. “What?”

“You’re going to pay for that.” He said, his voice low and gravely. He moved to pick her up but she swatted his hands away, laughing.

“And what exactly do you plan on doing?” She demanded.

“Oh…so many things,” he replied. This time when he made a grab for her, he pushed her down so she was lying on her back with him on top of her. “So many things that will leave you a hot and sweaty mess in my hands, begging for more.”

“Prove it,” she challenged. So he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I took so long! Life has been keeping me away from my fics!


	6. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RT Cockbites want to meet up. So Shay and Ryan will offer them a deal they can't resist.

The next day was hectic. While nobody outside of our gang suspected Ryan and Ray for the robberies, it did leave a bunch of our guys whining because they wanted to go out and have fun too. I eventually had to threaten their lives before they shut up. Ryan promised them that a heist would be planned soon which seemed to ease their minds for the time being. Our tech team was also picking up activity from Cockbites, just small hijackings and a robbery. It wouldn’t take long until they did something big.

“Why are we waiting for them to do a heist anyways?” One of my guys asked.

“Because our tech team can pick up all radio channels and com channels,” I explained. “If we catch word of a heist going down, we’ll get there first and then we strike.”

“And what if they are waiting for the same reason?”

“They aren’t,” I snapped. “Trust me.” Ryan had left with Geoff and Aqua to try and find any indication of where RT Cockbites was hiding. Which left me babysitting a bunch of idiots. “Now go to something productive. You’re giving me a headache.” I headed into the office and closed the door, sighing at the quietness. I placed a hand over my stomach, a bump already forming there. “You have no idea what you’re being brought into kid.”

“Miss Shay?” Anne knocked on the door. “I’ve brought you some coffee and lunch.” I moved away from the door and let her in. She placed the bag of food and cup down on the desk. “Ham and turkey sub with the works, soup and a cookie.”

“Ugh, why so much food?” I asked, sitting down at the desk.

“Cause you gotta feed two now,” Anne smiled. “How are you anyways? I know the last few days haven’t been the greatest.”

“I’m just tired. And bored,” I sighed.

“Well get used to it,” Anne smiled. “In a few months’ time you’ll be caring for a baby. If you think you’re tired now, just wait.”

“Great.”

“Shadow!” Someone came bursting into the room. “Cockbites! They’ve sent us a message!” I was out of my chair in a flash and headed back out to the main area where people were gathered around a computer screen. They rewound the message and started it from the beginning. Burnie’s face popped up.

“Well hello there Your Majesties! I just wanted to make sure everything was alright because you’ve been kind of quiet lately. Or maybe you’ve taken our message seriously and know that we mean business. Either way, I would love to meet with the King and Queen tonight, alone, so we can talk some stuff over. Territorial stuff. I promise it will just be myself, Joel and Matt. No guns, no back up. Deal? Meet us in Central Park at midnight. Ta ta!” The video ended and I pulled out my phone, sending a quick text to Ryan.

“See if you can trace where that came from,” I said to the tech team.

“On it!” They replied and got to work.

“The rest of you, be on guard!” I turned to everyone behind me. “I highly doubt they’ll be alone tonight and I doubt they won’t have some people come check this place out. I want eyes on all exits, windows and wherever else you can think of. I want look outs up top in case they try to sneak in. Got it?”

“Are you bringing anyone with you tonight?” Someone asked.

“Yes. I’ll take Ray and Jones to come with us. I need the best snipers in the city to watch our backs,” I replied. We stood around talking, trying to hash out a plan should Cockbites try to attack, when Ryan and the others burst through the door.

“A meeting?” Ryan demanded.

“Where?” Geoff asked.

“Shotgun!” Ray yelled.

“They want us to meet them alone,” I explained. “In the park. So I thought Ray and Jones could be look out in a nearby building.”

“What do the rest of us do?” Geoff asked.

“Stay here, keep my guys safe and call us if Cockbites sends someone,” I replied.

“But I wanna go to!” Geoff whined.

“They didn’t ask for you!” I snapped. “They asked for Ryan and I. Something about territories.” Geoff were silent for a moment, thinking.

“You don’t think…they’re going to try and make a deal, do you?” Gavin asked.

“It’s possible,” Jack replied.

“Well, we just tell them no deal,” Ryan shrugged.

“Yeah but the thing is the kind of deal they’ll make…isn’t going to be anything simple,” Geoff said, scratching his neck. “If anything, it’ll be along the lines of ‘we take this much city and this many of your guys live.’”

“Then we give them another deal,” Ryan said. “We stay as we are now, or their heads get blown off.”

“This is just turning into one huge cluster fuck!” Geoff yelled. “Why the fuck can’t we find them? There is nowhere else for them to be! We’ve checked every god forsaken shit hole this town has!”

“So maybe look in the higher class shit holes,” I said. “Clearly these guys did some deeds before coming here, I can see them having a good bank account. Maybe their hideout isn’t in a dump like ours is.”

“Hey!” Ryan said, actually hurt by what I said.

“Well it’s true!”

“What about an inside job?” Michael spoke up.

“What?” We all turned to him.

“Well, I have a feeling they’ll be asking you guys to join them. So, why not pretend to do just that?” Michael crossed his arms. “We get someone trustworthy on the inside and we have everything we need. Location, plans for heists, you name it. Merge the two crews for the time being. Get any dirt you can.”

“I actually like this idea,” I said slowly.

“Yeah and we’ve moved HQ around a bit so it’s not like you know where we are,” Geoff said. “The only info you can give them is what we’ve been up to since they left.”

“I don’t like this Shay,” Ryan turned to me. “Things could go wrong really quickly. I don’t want to risk you or the baby.”

“And what about my crew?” Aqua stepped up.

“You stay here and hold down the fort,” I replied. “We’ll split the guys in half so some will stay here too. We need an open line of communication that Cockbites can’t trace.”

“Shay,” Ryan tried again but I cut him off.

“I know,” I said. “I’m worried too. But what choice do we have? These guys aren’t giving us any hints at where they are. I want to end this now. Please trust me.” Ryan looked at me for a few moments before nodding. “Okay so here’s what we do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a little shorter but I wanted to get this out before I start with the whole "pretend to be allies" plan


	7. Playing with Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan and Shay make a fake deal with RT Cockbites. Shay finds a new friend among the enemy.

We pulled silently up to the meeting point. Burnie, Joel and Matt were already standing outside, waiting for us. Ray and Jones were in nearby buildings, keeping an eye on things. We decided not to have coms with us, in case the other crew knew how to hack into them.

“You sure about this?” Ryan asked.

“No,” I replied and opened my door.

“Friends!” Burnie greeted us warmly, like we had known each other for years. “It is great to see you.”

“We’re not here to make idle chit chat,” Ryan said. “What is it that you want?”

“We want to make a deal,” Matt replied. “Information for security.”

“What kind of security?” I asked.

“We’ll let your crew do its thing,” Matt said. “We won’t try and take over your territory. We won’t cause any more trouble.”

“In return for information,” Ryan said.

“Yes. Information on the Fake AH,” Matt nodded.

“We were also wondering if you’d like to join in a partnership with us,” Burnie added. “You two have made quite the name for yourselves and having two hard hitters on our side…we’d be unstoppable.”

“Two strong crews joining in an alliance,” I mused. “An attractive offer, I’ll give you that.”

“Plus, we both get what we want,” Burnie nodded. “Revenge. Seems only yesterday that Michael was about to kill you both. And Geoff. Hard to trust someone who has openly tried to take you out.”

“You took out a good portion of our men,” Ryan pointed out.

“We had to get our point across,” Joel stepped in. “Listen. You join us or you don’t. All we want is some helpful information and we’ll leave you alone.”

“May we speak by ourselves for a moment?” Ryan asked.

“Of course!” Burnie beamed. “We’ll just be…over there.” They moved away and Ryan turned to me.

“Now or never love,” he whispered. “You sure about this?”

“We have to,” I nodded. “We can’t give them any new information anyways. But, we could tell them we’ll keep a close eye on Geoff.”

“How?”

“Leave that to me,” I said. “Okay you guys can come back!” I called to the others.

“So? What’s the decision?” Burnie asked.

“We’ll accept your offer on an alliance,” I said. The three of them looked extremely happy. “However, Geoff has told us nothing of any plans or even where they hide. We can’t give you anything you don’t already know. But,” I held up my hand to keep them from protesting. “I have a plan. Let’s say we lie to Geoff, tell him that Ryan and I didn’t accept your offer. He’d be willing to trust us, right?”

“Right…” Matt agreed.

“So he’d be more willing to share new information with us,” I said. “We keep him close and then whatever information we get, we send to you straight away.”

“And how can we trust you with that?” Joel asked.

“Because you’re right,” I said. “I do have a score to settle with Geoff and his crew. I want them gone or dead. Dead would be preferred. A slow and painful one.”

“I like her,” Joel whispered to the others.

“So I promise you this,” I said to them. “My husband and I promise you this.” I looked up at Ryan and he nodded. “Anything that we learn gets passed on to you, we promise to not stab you in the back as long as you do the same and, as soon as Geoff’s crew falls, we promise to stay out of your area if you stay out of ours.”

“Deal,” Burnie nodded. “It will be a pleasure working with Your Majesties.”

 _What have you done?_ My voice asked.

I had no idea.

 

When we got back to our base, we broke the news to the crews. Immediately, Aqua told her crew to follow us. We were allies and friends and if RT wanted their ‘help’ then the Top Hats would do their best to give false information. Geoff started making up ideas of what we could tell them. Fake heists, random locations for hide outs, how much money each member had. It was a huge mess of a meeting between the three crews but we eventually started coming up with good lies to tell RT.

“We should also try and get them to invite us over to their hideout,” I pointed out. “We’ll invite them over to a random place, once we set up a fake hide out, and pretend that’s where we stay.”

“Good idea,” Ryan nodded. “We need to learn where they are.” I placed a hand over my stomach as the others talked and felt the bump that had been showing up more and more. The baby was sapping any strength I had recently, even though it had only been a few months. I was just so tired and irritable lately that Ryan was scared to be around me. Which was always a good thing for a wife.

As the days passed by, the so called ‘alliance’ between our crew and RT Cockbites was growing. We gave them information about heists that Geoff wanted to do and they’d go do it first, but on a much grander scale. We kept telling them that Geoff refused to give us even a hint as to where Fake AH hides but RT didn’t seem to mind. As long as it was only their names making the news, they were happy.

I also started seeing a change in one of their crew members, Joel. He used to greet me with a certain coldness but now he was happy to see me. It annoyed Ryan to no end and I had to laugh about it all the time.

“Ryan,” I said one night as he paced around the living room. “He’s being friendly. It’s not like he’s flirting with me or anything. He wouldn’t dare. I’m married to a trigger happy psychopath.”

“He’d better not,” Ryan growled.

“Will you stop pacing? You’re making me tired by just watching you,” I sighed. Ryan was instantly at my side, his hand resting on my ever growing stomach.

“I would hate to tire you out any more than you already are,” he said. “But hey, at least the baby will be strong.”

“Oh shut up,” I smiled, swatting his hand away.

“Few more months and we’ll be meeting the little guy,” Ryan smiled warmly.

“Or girl,” I said.

“Or girl,” Ryan agreed. “Have you thought of any names?”

“If it’s a boy, I want to name him after Reno.” Ryan looked up at me and gave me a soft kiss.

“Okay,” Ryan nodded. “But if the kid is anything like him then we’re going to have some problems.” I giggled.

“Yes, I’m sure the baby will come out swearing and wanting to hack into the government,” I rolled my eyes.

“And if we have a girl?”

“Hana,” I replied. “What about you? Have you thought of anything?”

“Well yes but I don’t think you’ll agree to William the Great Destroyer.” He shrugged.

“William the Great Destroyer?!” I howled with laughter. “What is wrong with you!”

“It was that or Ryan the Second,” Ryan replied. “I need an heir with a cool name!”

“William the Great Destroyer,” I repeated, deadpanned.

“Shut up.”

 

The next day I found a text from an unknown number. I was confused for a moment because only those closest to me got my cell number but upon opening the message I quickly relaxed.

_“Hey it’s Joel. Joel Heyman. From RT Cockbites. Yeah…um listen. I was wondering if you wanted to maybe go for a coffee later? I mean, I know I’m not the most trustworthy of people but coffee couldn’t hurt, could it? Anyways I hope you’ll say yes.”_

Coffee eh? Ryan had left to go hang out with Ray and I really had nothing else to do beside sit in the living room and watch TV so coffee wouldn’t be a bad idea.

_He’s courting you._

“Shut up. No he’s not. It’s coffee. Jesus you sound like Ryan,” I whispered.

_Whatever you say Shay._

“He just wants to be friends. We’re supposed to be in an alliance. It wouldn’t hurt to get to know one of them better,” I sighed. I sent a reply to Joel, telling him where to meet me.

 _“I will be there soon!”_ He sent back immediately.

_Courting you._

“Shut the fuck up.” I grabbed my purse and keys and headed over to my favorite coffee shop. Joel wasn’t there yet so I ordered a white chocolate mocha with peppermint and a cinnamon swirl coffee cake, finding a seat near the back. A few minutes later, Joel walked in, spotted me and smiled. He quickly ordered something before heading over to me.

“Hi,” he greeted.

“Hi.” I took a sip of coffee. “So. Coffee eh?”

“Well I figured since we’re in an alliance now and everything it wouldn’t hurt to get to know each other,” he said.

HA! Take that!

_You win this one._

“Yeah but why me?” I asked.

“You seem nicer…”

“Scared of Ryan?” I teased.

“I’m not scared of anything!” Joel shot back.

“Mmhmm,” I grinned. “So, Joel Heyman of RT Cockbites. How does one such as yourself get into this line of work?”

“Same way you did I suppose,” he replied. “Picked up a gun and just went to down.”

“Not the same way. I used a knife.”

“Ouch,” Joel winced.

“Yeah…it was a lot messier than a gun usually is.” I had a moment of complete evil joy as Joel squirmed in his seat at that.

“Well this is lovely conversation to have over coffee,” he said.

“Forgive me,” I said, my smile turning a touch crazy. “My husband is a psychopath. These conversations are normal for us.”

“You are one scary lady,” Joel commented. “I like that.”

_Courting._

I will kill you.

_Suicide isn’t the way to go._

“Everything okay?” Joel asked. “You look…annoyed. And angry.”

“Yeah I’m just…” I shook my head. “What kind of information does your crew have on us?”

“What do you mean?”

“How much do you know about me?” I clarified.

“Oh,” Joel nodded. “Well we’ve heard rumours that you’re kind of…”

“Crazy?” I finished for him.

“Yeah.”

“Well it’s true,” I admitted. “I was supposed to end up in a hospital for the mentally ill because I was apparently a danger to those around me.”

“Umm…”

“Schizophrenia,” I said. “Among other things but mainly that. So whenever I look annoyed or really pissed off, it’s usually the voice in my head.”

“That would make a lot of sense,” Joel said. “It must be hard to live with.”

“Yeah well it makes the life of crime more interesting,” I shrugged. “What about you? Got any crazies in your crew?”

“One but he’s only crazy when it comes to computers,” he said. “Really crazy. I think he sleeps with his laptop.”

“So he’s like every guy ever,” I said.

“Ha very funny.” We ended up spending most of the afternoon there. Joel was actually a pretty cool guy for being the enemy. I liked talking to him. For some reason he reminded me of Becca, of how it was so easy for me to open up and just talk. I mean, I loved Aqua like a sister and she would always be one of my closest friends but Joel seemed to have an understanding towards me.

It wasn’t until three thirty rolled around that I realised how long we had stayed there. I carefully stood up, trying to not fall back down, and grabbed my purse.

“This was…nice,” Joel said, standing up too. “I’m not used to just going out for coffee.”

“Really? What the hell do you guys do for fun?” I asked.

“Fun?” Joel looked shocked. “We are a high functioning crew madam. We have no time for fun! We’re always planning our next move.”

“I get the feeling the only time you go out is during heists,” I said.

“Mostly yes,” Joel nodded.

“Well if that’s the case then how did you manage today?”

“There is four of us!” Joel exclaimed. “Surely they won’t miss me for the day.” As we stepped outside I looked over at my car…and my heart dropped. Ryan stood there looking about ready to murder someone.

“Oh no,” I said in monotone. “You’d best run off. My sweet and caring husband is in a mood.”

“Ah…yeah he’s probably not too happy about this is he?”

“He didn’t know I went out today,” I said.

“So how did he…?”

“I’m about to find out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun Dun DUN


	8. Mind Tricks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RT wants a meet up and they suggest some help for Shay

“What the hell were you thinking?” Ryan yelled as we got inside the house. He had been silent on the whole ride over, anger rolling off him in waves. I admit it was a bit scary seeing him like this but that didn’t mean I was about to back down from a fight.

“Getting closer to the enemy,” I replied. “Getting information. How did you even find me anyways?”

“Come on Shay. I’m not about to leave you without protection!” Ryan rolled his eyes.

“You had someone follow me?” I demanded.

“Yes! Because I knew you can’t stay put like you’re told to!” Anger dripped from his voice and he was shaking. “I asked that you stay home because I’m worried about you getting hurt and yet you go off and play nice with the very people we are at war with! Did you even learn any new information?”

“Actually yes!” I said. “I learned that they have a really good hacker. Don’t know his name but we can start searching on that.”

“That’s it?” Ryan demanded. “You were there for three hours and all you got was a nameless hacker.”

“I also learned that the leaders hardly ever go out,” I growled. “Joel said that they are usually too busy planning and that they only go out during heists.”

“So?”

“ _So_ it means that if we find out which heist they do next, it leaves the base open for us to…explore.” I headed into the kitchen and grabbed some crackers. Arguing was making me hungry.

“And where is this base?” Ryan asked, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. He had that damned eyebrow of his up and was looking at me with such an infuriating face that I wanted to slap him.

“I…don’t know yet but I will find out!” I promised.

“Shay you can’t just go out like that and meet with the enemy,” Ryan sighed. “It’s dangerous.”

“For me or the baby?” I asked.

“For both of you!” Ryan yelled. “I know it’s a new concept for you but you need to do everything you can to keep both you and the baby safe! I can’t lose you.” He walked towards me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Shay, my love, my queen. I want this to be over as much as you do. I want everything to go back to the way it was. But please, _please_ , don’t go meet them without back up. We can’t know for sure if they won’t suddenly pull a gun on you.”

“Ryan we need to get information and the only way we can do that is if they trust us,” I sighed and rested my head on his chest. “I know you’re worried but I’ll be fine. Joel seems…nice. I don’t think he’d ever hurt me unless it was absolutely the last option.”

“You better be right about that,” Ryan kissed the top of my head. “Okay. Keep doing what you’re doing. Just promise me that if something seems to be going wrong, you leave and you come find me. Okay?”

“Okay,” I moved away from him and headed for the living room. Ryan turned on his Xbox and started playing Halo. “Have you found a place to be our dummy HQ?”

“Yeah. On the other side of town,” Ryan replied.

“How have they not found ours yet?” I asked aloud. “They’re able to send messages to us.”

“The building isn’t under our names,” Ryan explained. “Plus, they never really wanted to fight us. They only want Geoff and his crew. So finding out where we actually are isn’t high on their list. They might know the general area but honestly? We aren’t that interesting to them.”

“Unless we can lead them to Geoff,” I nodded.

“Exactly.” We stayed in a comfortable silence for a bit while Ryan went through the campaign. My phone buzzed a little while later and when I looked down I saw Joel’s name appear.

 _“Should I be fearing for my life?”_ He asked.

 _“No, he’s cool.”_ I replied. I could see Ryan watching me as I messaged Joel and I looked up at him and stuck my tongue out. He glared and pulled me closer to him while I struggled to get away, finally giving up when he pressed a soft kiss to my ear.

“What’s he saying?” Ryan asked.

“He’s wondering if you’re going to kill him,” I replied.

“Oh, I am,” Ryan nodded. “Just not today.”

 _“Okay cool. I was going to ask if you two wanted to come over to the base tonight and swap information. We have something you two might be interested in.”_ Joel sent.

“Aha!” I grinned up at Ryan in triumph. “Look! We just got an invite to their home base.”

“I-how-what?!” Ryan looked confused and annoyed that I was able to work so quickly.

“And all I had to do was go for coffee,” I sang. “Shall we go then?”

“Yes,” Ryan grumbled.

 _“We’ll be there.”_ I replied to Joel. He sent an address and a time and where to park.

“Really? We have to park a few blocks away?” Ryan asked.

“Safety reasons I guess,” I replied, shrugging.

“Does this mean I have to go out again?” Ryan whined.

“I could always go myself,” I offered. He shot up from the couch and headed upstairs to change and left me laughing. “Thought so.”

 

When we pulled into the parking lot that Joel told us to go to, he was already waiting for us. He was leaning against a black SUV and waved when he saw us.

“Mad King,” he greeted, bowing. Ryan had changed into his Mad King outfit, crown and all, while I wore my usual getup. Black pants, black leather jacket, black tank top and kick ass boots. I wasn’t named Shadow for nothing. “Shadow. I’ve been asked to escort you two.”

“Very well,” Ryan nodded. Joel opened the back of the SUV and waited for us to get in before shutting the door and getting into the driver’s side. He drove us to a huge apartment building a few blocks from where we parked and pulled into the garage.

“This is our main building,” Joel explained as we got out. “We use it mostly for the apartments but some of the rooms have been modified for other uses.”

“How many other places do you guys have?” I asked.

“A handful, spread out across the city,” Joel shrugged. “Nothing to worry about.” He led us to the elevator and pressed for floor six. The elevator dinged when we reached the floor and opened the doors, showing us a long hallway with doors on either side. Joel went for the fourth door on the left, doing a special knock before someone opened it up.

“Welcome!” Burnie greeted us. “So nice of you to drop by on short notice. Come in, come in. There is food and drinks. Help yourself!”

“We’re not here to play house Burnie,” Ryan warned.

“Yes, yes, yes. Always business with you two,” Burnie sighed. “Alright fine. Take a seat at the table.” The room was completely bare except for the long table Burnie had mentioned. Gus and Matt were sitting there now, a few papers spread around them.

“Why are we here?” I asked, sitting down in one of the chairs. Ryan chose to stand behind me, resting a hand on my shoulder.

“It’s Geoff,” Matt replied. “He isn’t giving you anything good. Sure, we’ve beaten him to a few heists but we’ve got nowhere to look for him. Is there absolutely nothing that would point to a hide out?”

“None,” I shook my head. “From what we can tell, and what he’s told us, they move constantly.”

“He was always like that,” Gus nodded. “Almost every month we had to pack up and move again. He was so paranoid about it. If we stayed too long then he’d get antsy and twitchy.”

“It was weird,” Burnie agreed. “I’m not surprised he’s still doing it. Tell me, did they ever restart their little tech company?”

“No,” Ryan said. “After we blew the building up, Geoff called it quits on the fake lives. Instead he wanted to be a full time crime boss and his name soon rose in ranks.”

“I bet,” Joel shook his head. “And what of you two? You’re making quite a name as well.”

“We’re simply doing what we do best,” I smiled sweetly at Joel. “The two of us…we could burn this city to the ground if we felt like it.”

“Yes,” Ryan said quietly. “Burn it and all those in it.”

“Yet you don’t,” Matt pointed out.

“Yet we don’t,” I agreed. “Because where would the fun be in that?”

_Yes. Murdering all those innocents. All that fire that could consume. No fun in that, is there?_

“What?” Burnie asked. Everyone was staring at me.

“What?” I countered. “Why are you all looking at me?” Ryan squeezed my shoulder.

“Nothing,” Gus said. “It’s nothing.”

 

**Ryan’s POV**

“I think my wife is getting a bit tired,” Ryan said, helping Shay up. “Joel, would you mind taking her down to the car? I’ll be right there.” The other man looked surprised but nodded. He and Shay started walking towards the door, Shay throwing a glance over her shoulder at Ryan. He smiled reassuringly at her and waited until the two were gone before turning to the others.

“Is she aware she does that?” Burnie asked, standing up.

“No,” Ryan replied. “It’s getting worse. When I first met her it hardly happened but as time went on…she’s slowly losing herself to that voice in her head and I don’t know how to pull her back.”

“Have you tried medication?” Matt asked.

“I’ve never thought about it,” Ryan admitted. “We’ve been so caught up in…this.” He waved between himself and the three crew members. “And now with a baby on the way I don’t know what the meds will do.”

“We have a really good doctor,” Gus said. “He could take a look at her. He has access to anything he may need for a full checkup.”

“The thing is, it’s her insanity that gives her the fire to fight,” Ryan said. “If she loses that then she loses what she’s been training to do for years. All the other emotions get mixed up in it.”

“I’m more worried about what not taking medication will do,” Matt said. “She’s a time bomb right now. If she’s starting to show a split personality like that then she may turn on us in the middle of a gun fight.”

“No, it’s not like that,” Ryan shook his head. “That other part of her…it doesn’t want to cause trouble. I’ve seen that much. It just voices the worries she’d rather not think about. It’s never been dangerous.”

“We’ll see,” Burnie said. “But I do suggest getting her to our doctor. He won’t try and put her away or anything like that. If he did, all of us would have been in padded cells years ago.”


	9. I have to, I'm sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In order to stop RT Cockbites from really ruining everything, Shay needs to go and practically become one of them. However, Ryan doesn't like this idea.

“Alright so, here’s what we do,” Geoff said. We were all standing around the planning table in the warehouse, currently trying to figure out our next move. “They want to find us so badly so we let them.”

“What?” Aqua asked. “Have you lost your mind?”

“Probably,” Geoff shrugged. “I’m just thinking that maybe they should get a hint about a place we want to rob and that some of us will be scoping the place out a few days before the heist. They can then follow whoever goes to a ‘hideout’ and see all of Fake AH there.”

“I’m not putting Becca in any danger,” Gavin said, putting an arm around Becca.

“I can take care of myself Gav,” Becca said, putting a hand on his arm. I couldn’t help it, I snorted and tried to keep my laughter back. “Something funny?” She demanded.

“No, no,” I shook my head. “Just remembering the time you came over to my place because someone broke in and scared you and you wanted me to go out and kill them.”

“I…” She started to defend herself and then stopped, smiling a little. “Yeah, okay. I see you’re point.”

“Don’t worry Gavin, not all of us will be there,” Geoff said. “Just me and a few others.”

“Why you?” Ryan asked.

“Because if they don’t see me then it’ll seem weird,” Geoff replied. “I’m the one they’re really after so it’ll be good if they can keep tabs on me. Until we’ll ready to strike, we’ll use that fake hideout as a way to get them to think they’re finally catching up.”

“Okay,” Ryan nodded. “Where were you thinking?”

“There’s a place close to the docks,” Jack explained, pointing to a location on the map we had spread before us. “It’s completely empty and Geoff’s already bought it. We set up shop there and then start leaving the bread crumb trail.”

“And now that we know where RT is hiding out, we can spy on them too,” Aqua pointed out.

“Not really,” I said, wincing as the baby moved inside me. “They’d notice right away. The street isn’t busy so if a car stayed out front for any length of time that wasn’t normal, they’d pick up on it. The ally has been closed off and there isn’t really anything around it that would serve as a good spot. It’d be better if there was another apartment complex right beside them but it’s mainly just shops.”

“Any bars? Someplace that they would visit often?” Geoff asked.

“Not that I saw…” I turned to Ryan but he shook his head. “So the only way we can spy is if Ryan or I are invited back to the building.”

“It’ll probably be you,” Geoff sighed. “Joel has taken a liking to you and I’m sure the others aren’t far off from it either. They’d only ask Ryan to be there if it was for work but I have a feeling Joel will invite you just to hang out.”

“I’m not sending my very pregnant wife in there alone,” Ryan growled. I shot him a glare which he ignored.

“I’m not asking you to,” Geoff said. “I’m just saying that if we want a good shot at this, she is our best bet.”

“They wouldn’t hurt me while I’m pregnant,” I sat back in my chair, standing being too hard on me while I was the size of a planet.

“You don’t know that,” Ryan said.

“I do, actually,” I looked up at him. “I don’t know why but they aren’t the kind of people to hurt a pregnant woman.”

“She’s right actually,” Geoff said. “Even when I worked with them, they always wanted to make sure there were no kids around when we shot up a place. They never wanted to be those kinds of killers.”

“But this is insane!” Ryan nearly yelled.

“Yeah, and so are you,” Aqua pointed out. “The both of you are completely and utterly insane.”

“It’s why we like each other so much,” Ryan shrugged. He turned back to me. “So, what? You want me to just stand back while you constantly put yourself in danger?”

“Yes.” We stared at each other for a few moments before Ryan looked away in defeat.

“Then it’s settled,” Geoff said. “We’ll get this plan going now. Shay, text Joel. Tell them Fake AH is planning a heist at the corner store on Fifth. We’ll have two guys scouting out the area in a few days.” I nodded and pulled my phone out. “Jack, take Michael, Gavin and a few others to start setting up the fake hideout. Everyone else…go back to what you were doing I guess.” The baby kicked again and I winced in pain.

“Ry?” I asked softly. He looked over at me. “Take me home? Little one is being fussy today.” He nodded and helped me out of the chair before taking me by the hand and leading me to the car. The entire ride was silent and I could tell he was angry at me. I waited until we got home though; getting into an argument while Ryan was driving would end badly for the pedestrians on the sidewalk. As soon as the door closed behind us, I whirled around and crossed my arms. “Alright. Out with it.”

“Shay this is insane!” He yelled. “You are getting close to the due date and you continue to walk into danger! Those people would not hesitate to hurt you!”

“Ryan! I know what I’m doing, okay? Will you just trust me?”

_He doesn’t think you can do this._

No…

_He doubts you. All he’s worried about is his child. Why can’t he just trust you? The baby will be fine. You will be fine. He’s making something out of nothing._

“I do trust you Shayne,” Ryan said, coming towards me. “But I don’t trust them! When they figure out that we’ve been lying to them this whole time, what do you think will happen?”

_He’s over reacting._

“You’re over reacting Ryan!” I moved away from him. “I’ll be fine!”

“Shayne! Will you listen to yourself?” Ryan followed after me. “This is going too far! You should be preparing to bring a baby into the world! Not planning the next move against our enemies! Please, just stay home! For me!”

_You can handle yourself. Don’t listen to him._

“Shay please,” Ryan’s voice got quiet and when I turned around, he was on his knees. “Please. I can’t lose you. You’re the only one that matters to me and when I meet our baby then I will have two reasons to live for. Please.” It broke my heart, seeing him like that. He was only doing this because he cared about me…

_Dear God woman, are you seriously going to let him win this?_

“Ryan, the only way we can win this is if we get all the information that we can,” I whispered. “If you won’t let me go to the building then at least let me go out in public. You can follow behind if you want but we need everything we can get.”

“I can do that!” Ryan jumped up. “I just need to make sure you’re always safe.” He cupped my face in his hands and kissed me softly.

“Okay,” I nodded. “Why don’t you go back to the others? I know Geoff will want help setting up.”

“Are you sure?” Ryan asked.

“I’m going to take a nap,” I replied. “Bringing a kid into the world is tiring.”

“Okay,” Ryan smiled. “I’ll be back around dinner. Don’t bother making anything, okay? You just relax.” I smiled up at him and watched him leave the house. I waited a few minutes, making sure he wasn’t coming back in, before heading upstairs and quickly packing a bag. As I packed, I called Joel.

“Well, if it isn’t the most beautiful pregnant lady ever,” he answered.

“Flirt,” I rolled my eyes.

“You know it,” Joel laughed. “What’s up?”

“This is going to sound strange but can you come pick me up? And maybe find me a place to stay for a while?” I zipped my bag up and carried it down to the door.

“Is everything alright?”

“I’ll explain later,” I told him. “Please? I don’t have much time.”

“Alright, alright,” Joel sighed. “I’ll be there in a few.”

 

“So, you wanna talk about it?” Joel asked once we had driven a good distance away from my house. He didn’t question me throwing my packed bags into the back of his car, which I was happy about, but I knew he couldn’t keep quiet for long.

“Ryan doesn’t trust me,” I said. “Ever since I got pregnant he hasn’t left me alone. I need to show him that I’m going to be alright.”

“I mean…you do live a dangerous life,” Joel said. “I can see him being worried. He is your husband and he does love you. I know what it’s like to lose someone you love.”

“But he should still be able to trust me when it comes to taking care of myself!” I said in exasperation. “I just need a few days away from him.”

“Well, you can stay at my apartment,” Joel said. “It’s safe there and you can get work done too, if you wanted.”

“Sure,” I nodded. Joel fell quiet and headed for the apartment building. When we headed into the front doors, Burnie was there, as if waiting for us, and smiled brightly.

“Shay! How wonderful to see you again!” He noticed my bags and looked at them, confused. “What’s going on?”

“Trouble in paradise,” Joel replied.

“I just need some time away from Ryan,” I clarified. “I hope it’s not a problem.”

“Of course not,” Burnie replied. “Stay as long as you like. We’d love an extra set of hands around here anyways. Chris has decided to just up and quit on us.” Burnie sighed.

“Really?” Joel shook his head. “I thought he was doing so well too.”

“Chris?” I asked, following the two men to the elevator.

“Chris was our bomb guy,” Burnie replied. “We’ve been wanting someone who was good with explosives and when we found Chris, we thought things would be a lot easier around here. Apparently he didn’t like it.”

“We have a bomb guy,” I said. We loaded my things into the elevator and Joel pressed for the eighth floor. “I don’t know how good he is compared to this Chris guy but if you need help with bombs, I could ask him.”

“I think we’ll take you up on that offer,” Burnie nodded. “See, we’re wanting to pull of this huge heist soon and we wanted to end it with a bang. Something flashy that would destroy a lot of shit. Think he can do that?”

“I’m sure he can,” I replied, my mind already at work. What were they planning and why did they need to blow up a bunch of shit?

“Great! Let me know what he says!” Burnie grinned. He helped Joel and I move my things into Joel’s apartment before leaving, saying he had some matters to see to.

“Alright so, there’s a guest bedroom downstairs,” Joel said, moving in the direction of the stairs. His apartment was very Joel like. Papers were strewn everywhere, coffee mugs littered the table, dishes were in the sink and he had left the TV on to some channel that was talking about the market. “Bathroom is down here too.” I followed him downstairs and into the guest room. It was nice, not very big but nice; a queen sized bed, a huge closet and a window which looked out towards the city. “Um…I hate to rush off on you so suddenly but I have to help Burnie with some of those matters…”

“Its fine,” I waved him away. “I’ll just unpack.” Joel nodded and headed back out, leaving me to get everything out of the suitcases. After that was done, I decided to do something about the upstairs. I started with the dishes, because lord only knows how long they’ve been there, before moving on to the papers. I refused to look at them, wanting to give myself some time in the place before snooping. Establish trust, let them know you mean no harm and maybe see if it’ll get you into the rooms where all the good stuff is hidden.

Once the apartment was clean, I plopped down on the couch and started running my hands over my giant stomach. I was starting to get worried. I hadn’t left a note and I knew Ryan would go insane trying to figure out where I was. Sighing, I picked up my phone and texted Aqua, telling her to tell Ryan I was okay and not to worry. Two seconds later my phone started ringing.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Your husband is about to murder everyone in the city so you better have an explanation,” Aqua said.

“How’d he find out so fast?” I asked.

“He left something at home and when you weren’t there, he said he started calling your cell but you wouldn’t pick up.” Aqua explained.

“Oh…whoops?” I bit my lip. “I’m at RT HQ. I decided the only way we will ever make any progress is if one of us in the heart of it all. And guess what? I’ve already learned something.”

“Oh really?” Aqua asked.

“Mmhmm. They’re planning a heist,” I replied. “A big one. One that requires a lot of explosions. They were asking if I happened to know anyone who’s good with that kind of thing.”

“Only person who comes to mind is Manny,” Aqua said. “You gonna make explosives for them?”

“Dummy ones,” I replied. “But they have to be so good that nobody would be able to tell the difference.”

“Done. How soon do you need them?”

“You’re actually helping her with this?!” I heard my husband yell in the background.

“Hush you, your wife is smart let her do her thing,” Aqua shushed him.

“I’m not sure of when yet. I’ll ask Joel when he comes back,” I replied.

“You’re staying with Joel?” Aqua asked.

“She’s doing w _hat?!_ ” Ryan yelled again. “Give me the phone!”

“No, fuck off. She’s doing this for a reason,” Aqua sighed. “Listen, I need to go before Mad King tears my head off. Be safe.”

“You too. Tell Ryan I love him and I’m sorry.” We hung up and I sighed. I hoped this would all be over soon so I could focus on my family. “Ryan.” I whispered and closed my eyes.


	10. Waking up the Dead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RT Cockbites is ready to move out with their heist. Shay learns some distressing news. An old friend pops up to say hello.

I was accepted pretty easily into RT’s crew. The members were nice enough to me, some more than others. I had a feeling Burnie had a talk with all of them; most crew’s weren’t as welcoming. An easy routine was made up between Joel and I, one that left me free to roam basically everywhere, except for a few floors. He would go do whatever it was the others needed, I would sit around for a bit and maybe go for a walk before making dinner. One of the members, Miles Luna, was quick to become my friend, his excuse being that he knew how boring Joel was.

After Miles, Kerry started talking to me more. I soon learned that those two were as thick as thieves, which was their main purpose for being in the crew. They then introduced me to Kara, Josh and Arryn and a little group started to form between us. I was actually starting to have…fun. I knew they were my enemies and that in the end I would have to kill them if they chose to fight but as the saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

Ryan, of course, kept in touch with me every day. He always called around the same time, or he would have Aqua do it if he was busy with planning. While I still hadn’t really learned anything new, I was getting closer to it. I just had to keep convincing Ryan of that.

“Babe, everything is fine, I promise,” I said for the millionth time to Ryan. “I just need a few more days. Aqua said the fake bombs are almost ready and as soon as I have those, Burnie will have to tell me what’s going to happen.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Ryan sighed. “If he doesn’t feel like it then he won’t tell you anything.”

“But he will,” I countered.

“Shayne…” Ryan sighed. “I miss you.” My heart broke a little at that, my own longing to be with him coming through.

“I miss you too,” I whispered. “When this is all over, I am dragging you off to a six month honeymoon.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he laughed quietly. “Be careful, okay?”

“Always,” I promised “I love you.”

“I love you too.” We hung up and I felt the sudden urge to cry. I blamed it on my hormones thanks to being pregnant. I felt the baby kick just then and I couldn’t help the small smile that spread on my face as I rested a hand on my stomach. I was just a few short weeks away from my due date and I was hoping like crazy that everything would be said and done before then.

The door opened just then and Joel walked through with two pizza boxes.

“Hey,” I greeted, trying to get up from the couch. Joel dropped everything on the kitchen counter and ran over to help me. “Thanks. It’ll be nice when I can finally do things on my own again.”

“I bet,” Joel laughed. “Anyways, I figured I’d give you a break from cooking…and cleaning…and taking care of my sorry ass.”

“Its fine, I’d do it at home anyways,” I grinned. “But pizza is a good way to apologize for it.” We headed for the kitchen and grabbed some plates, loading them up with the cheesy, saucy goodness. “So, my bomb guy is almost done with that Burnie wanted.” I said.

“Oh good,” Joel nodded. “That’ll make things easier for us.”

“What are you guys blowing up anyways?” I asked, taking a bite of pizza.

“Well, we’re doing a heist on the banks in town,” Joel replied.

“All of them?” I said, staring at him wide eyed.

“Hell yes,” Joel grinned. “Imagine the take on that! Anyways, we need a good distraction for when that happens. What better distraction then a bunch of stuff blowing up? Burnie has some old cars, trucks, buses…really any old vehicle he could fine. Plus, there are a few abandoned buildings near by that’ll work perfectly. So, while those are blowing sky high, a few groups will be going into the banks.”

“Jesus,” I shook my head. “I don’t think I’ve seen a heist on that scale yet.”

“Well, we need the money,” Joel shrugged.

“Really?”

“Mmhmm,” Joel nodded, mouth full of pizza.

“What, you guys been blowing your money on ammo or something?” I joked.

“Sort of,” Joel replied. “It’s mostly been for crew related but I know Burnie, Matt and Gus tend to use it on other things.”

“Damn,” I took a bite of pizza. “Well then the banks will gladly help with that.”

“That’s what we’re hoping for.”

 

It was kind of quiet for the next few days. The ‘bombs’ were dropped off at the building and Burnie practically danced with excitement. They looked like your average sticky bombs and I was assured they would work just like your average sticky bombs…until it was time to explode them. When someone pressed the button, the only things the bombs would do was beep and then shut off.

“Okay!” Burnie said, rushing Matt, Gus, Joel and I into a meeting room. “Shay, thank you for the bombs! They were work perfectly! Now, there is one more thing we need to ask you for.”

“What’s that?”

“Well…we’re shorthanded,” Matt explained. “We don’t have enough guys to plant the bombs and explode them, stay here and run intel and go and actually do the heists.”

“You need more men,” I said. They nodded. “How many? And do you want a few for each job or just a group to focus on one job?”

“We’ll need a few for each job,” Gus said. “Around twenty maybe.”

“I think we can spare them,” I replied.

“Great!” Burnie grinned. “You’ve been very helpful these past few days, Shay. I don’t know how we’ll ever repay you for this.”

“No need,” I smiled. “You’re helping me, it’s only natural I help you. Don’t forget, Geoff and his gang have left scars on me and I would so like to repay the favour to them.”

_Especially Michael. He definitely needs to be repaid. One bullet won’t be enough. Maybe two or three._

The four men shared a look before Joel nodded and Burnie sat down beside me.

“Shay,” Burnie sighed. “Look, we’ve talked to Ryan about this and he refused to do anything but…Shay, do you realise what happens when your little voice comes out?”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

“Shay that voice in your head…it’s speaking out loud as well,” Burnie said carefully. “Your subconscious is taking over and you aren’t realising what’s happening but…I think you’re developing a personality disorder and it’s been happening for a while now. Whenever your voice speaks in your head, you start to speak as well.”

“I-I don’t understand,” I said, looking between them. “How….why….”

“We have a doctor,” Joel spoke up. “He can take a look at you and determine exactly what is happening. He’ll just do some tests and that will be that.” I was quiet for a bit, unsure of what to say. Why would Ryan hide this from me? Did the others know? How long had it been happening.

“Shay, he’s in the building now,” Matt said. “You can go see him, alone or with Joel. It’s your choice.”

“I want to go alone,” I finally replied. They nodded and Burnie made a call, telling the doctor I’d be coming up. When he got off, Joel said he’d walk me up to the third floor and I nodded. He helped me out of the chair and put his arm around me, leading me up there.

“This doctor is really good,” Joel said to me. “You’ll be in and out of there quickly and he’ll have the results within days.”

“You know,” I said. “I knew there was always something wrong with me but not to this extent.”

“Shay, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you,” Joel stopped and turned to look at me, cupping my face in his hands. “Sure, you might be a little crazy, but who isn’t?”

“What about my baby?” I whispered.

“Your baby will turn out just as amazing as you,” Joel said. “Smart, funny, beautiful and a kick ass fighter. Not to mention the father is a bad ass too.” I smiled a little. “Now, come on.”

 

Joel had been right, the tests didn’t take too long. The doctor had taken a scan of my head, asked me a few questions about the voice in my head and how long it had been there. A few times he asked to speak to that voice and sometimes it replied and sometimes it didn’t. Whenever it did, however, he jotted something down in his little notebook. He told me it was most likely a second personality coming through after staying in the back of my mind for years. I left the office a little dazed and headed up to Joel’s apartment where I just went to bed. Joel tried to talk to me but I didn’t say much, only telling him that I wanted to rest for a bit.

After a few hours of just staring at the wall I finally picked up my cell phone and called Ryan.

“Hey babe,” he answered on the first ring. “What’s up?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I choked out.

“Tell you what?” Ryan asked. “Shay, what happened?”

“I’m apparently developing a second personality thanks to my little voice,” I replied.

“What? Who told you that?”

“Doctor,” I said. “I was in a meeting with the others and my voice came out except…it wasn’t just in my head. I actually spoke. They said they had talked to you about it already.”

“…they did,” Ryan confirmed. “I didn’t know how to tell you, I knew you’d be devastated. I was going to, I swear. I just…I didn’t know how. I’m so sorry. This wasn’t something I could just come out and say.”

“No, it really isn’t,” I laughed with no humor.

“So what now?” Ryan asked.

“Now? Now I wait for the results of my tests and then deal with the fact that I’m slowly losing my mind,” I sighed. “I’m more worried about our baby. What if they turns out like me?”

“Then we’ll be right there beside them, every step of the way,” Ryan said. “Like I will be for you.”

“They need twenty or so men to do this heist of theirs,” I said, switching topics. “They want to rob all the banks in the city but they don’t have enough people to run intel, blow shit up and do the robbing.”

“I’ll gather some people,” Ryan said. “Why are they robbing all the banks?”

“Low on money,” I whispered. Joel was still in the apartment and I didn’t want him hearing anything. “They’ve spent everything they’ve got on finding Geoff. And a few side pleasures but that’s beside the point.”

“How bad would it be if those bombs never exploded?” Ryan chuckled darkly.

“Well, they’re counting on them as a distraction so if there is no explosion, the cops will be on their asses within seconds,” I said. “Might help to tip them off a few hours beforehand too.”

“I like the way you think, wife.” I could practically feel Ryan’s smile through the phone.

“Wait until there’s two of me,” I said quietly.

“More for me to love,” Ryan replied. “I have to go but I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”

“Okay.” We hung up and I decided I had done enough wallowing and wanted something to eat. Getting up, I made my way out to the kitchen and stopped dead when I saw familiar dark red hair.

“I get that you want more help but they can’t know I’m alive Joel,” Reno was talking quietly but urgently. He looked the same as ever and he looked very much alive. Joel spotted me and his face went white.

“I think they already know,” Joel pointed behind Reno and he turned.

“S-Shay,” Reno stuttered.

“Fancy meeting you here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, if Reno wasn't dead before, he will be now.


	11. Hello Darkness My Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shay and Reno have a chat and things go a way that Shay didn't expect. Ryan learns of RT Cockbite's plan and makes one of his own.

Reno wouldn’t meet my eyes. They darted everywhere but towards me. Joel had left us alone as soon as Reno noticed me, saying he needed to be somewhere. There was a lot going through my mind right now; happiness to see my friend alive, pain over having being lied to and anger. This man had betrayed us, had faked his own death and joined the rival crew.

“Why?” I finally asked.

“That’s a complicated answer S…” Reno replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I’ve got time.” Sighing, Reno nodded and motioned for me to follow him. He led me up to his apartment and we went inside. I sat down on the couch and looked up at him, waiting. He started pacing the room, his hands buried in his hair.

“I know what this must look like,” he began. “I faked my own death and probably upset everyone in the crew but I had to.”

“Why?” I asked again.

“Shay, you and Ryan…you guys were starting to scare me,” Reno admitted. “I didn’t work for crews for a reason. They grow too head strong and think they are immortal. They fall. But you guys? God, you guys are equally insane! The two of you happily risked your lives for a score. When RT came around they contacted me, offered me a job. I told them no at first but then they offered to pay be double and then triple. I…I needed the money Shay. I didn’t want to but things were getting to be so hard for me....”

“Reno,” I said. “Do you have any idea what you did to us? To Saul? He hasn’t left his apartment in months, _I_ nearly went on a rampage…we’ve been mourning you this entire time and you’ve been here, of all places! I’ve been blaming myself this entire time for your death and you were here living life to the fullest without a fucking care in the world!”

“Shay, please…the baby…you can’t stress yourself out like this,” he moved to grab my hands but I smacked them away, tears streaming down my face.

“You lied to us,” my voice shook with anger. “You lied to us and betrayed us. And for what? Money? My God Reno, if that was all you wanted you could have just asked! We would have given you more!”

“It’s not that simple Shay!” Reno yelled. “You can’t stop these guys. They’ll win no matter what you do. I guess you’ve already figured that out anyways, since you’re here and not with the others.”

“What?” I blinked.

“Y-you are here because you know there’s no hope, right?” Reno asked. “That heist they’re pulling…they aren’t just blowing up any old thing. They’re going after the base and they’re planning on having everyone inside it when it blows.”

“How do they know where it is?” I asked.

“They didn’t hire me for nothing S,” Reno replied. “I’m their info guy now.”

“You fucking bastard,” I rose from my seat. “You sold us off to them. You’re sending your own friends-your family-to their deaths.”

“You were sending them that way anyways,” Reno laughed with no humor. “As soon as the others figured out your little plan.”

“Plan?” I asked.

“They knew you guys weren’t really helping them,” Reno shook his head. “They figured it out pretty quickly actually. They’ve just been playing along the entire time. For that betrayal, all of you are going to pay the price. Including you.”

“What?”

“Oh please Shay,” Reno rolled his eyes. “They aren’t idiots. They know why you’re here. Again, it was all part of the act.” Suddenly someone grabbed me from behind and I gasped, trying to turn to see who it was. I caught a glimpse of Burnie, with Gus and Matt standing off to the side.

“I’m sorry,” I heard Burnie say before pain exploded in my skull and everything went black.

 

I woke up freezing and laying on a very uncomfortable bed. When I cracked my eyes open, I saw I was in a cell. I sat up quickly and regretted it instantly, pain shooting through my skull. I held my head in my hands until the pain subsided before getting up and moving to the bars. I couldn’t really see much but it didn’t sound like anyone else was around. Sighing, I turned around and took in my surroundings properly.

The cell wasn’t big, but it wasn’t constricting either. There was the small cot, a toilet and a sink and that was it. The walls were stone and so was the floor and it was freezing. I doubted the ratty looking blanket on the cot would offer much warmth but I threw it over my shoulders anyways. Sighing, I sat on the bed and leaned against the wall, absent-mindedly rubbing my stomach.

I heard a door open and footsteps started heading towards me and, on instinct, I reached to pull a gun out but remembered I hadn’t had anything on me at the time when they knocked me out. So instead I stood up and moved as far away from the bars as I could, bringing the blanket tighter around me. I waited as the footsteps got closer and revealed Joel, carrying a tray of food and a bag.

“Hey Shay,” he greeted, trying to smile. He looked sad, really sad actually. I didn’t say anything, just stayed quiet in my corner, watching as he opened the door and came inside the cell. “I figured you’d be hungry by now. And cold. The bag is full of clothes and another blanket.” He set the tray of food, pizza and a glass of juice, down on the bed and set the bag next to it. When he straightened up, he turned to look at me again, his eyes still sad.

“So, you knew the entire time?” I finally asked.

“Not the entire time…” Joel sighed. “They asked me to bug the apartment and they overheard your conversation with Ryan.” I nodded. “You know, when you first came here I thought it was because you actually wanted to be part of this crew. I didn’t want to believe the others when they said you and Ryan were lying to us the entire time, refused to believe it until I listened to those conversations.”

 

“Yeah well, you guys were apparently planning on killing us anyways so,” I glared at him. “We all have our secrets.”

“I didn’t want it,” Joel said. “I told them to leave it alone but the others…well, they want this town Shay. They aren’t going to let you guys stand in the way.”

“They could have asked nicely,” I shrugged.

“Nice isn’t how we do things in this business,” Joel pointed out. “Anyways, there’s some pills that the doctor wants you to take. Despite the fact that you are now our prisoner, he still wants to help you out. He said they should keep that…other part of you in check.” He headed for the door, locking it behind him. Just before he turned to leave though, I stopped him.

“You know, I actually did think of you as my friend,” I told him. “I had hoped that once everything was over, we could convince you to come with us.” Joel didn’t say anything. He just looked at me for a moment, trying to see if I was lying, before giving up and leaving. I walked over to the food slowly and looked down at it. There was no way in hell I was eating it or taking the pills. So, like the courteous guest I was, I took the tray of food and dumped it in the small garbage can beside my bed. I then looked inside the bag and pulled out the blanket Joel had mentioned. It was a lot thicker than my current one, which I was happy about, but I still couldn’t really trust anything they gave me. The bag of clothes and, sadly, the blanket, ended up in the corner.

With that taken care of, I sat on the bed again and sighed. I was helpless to stop RT Cockbites from doing anything now. I knew there was no way in hell I could trick one of them into letting me go. For once, I didn’t have a plan and my voice wasn’t speaking up. I had no idea what to do. I just hoped Ryan would realise something was wrong and come looking for me.

I suddenly had the feeling to pee so I got up to use the small toilet when a wetness started spreading across my pants. I glanced down, wondering what the hell was happening, when a sudden sharp pain flashed through me. I started panicking, thinking that it was way too early for the baby to be coming, that it had not been nine months yet, but then another contraction hit me and there was all the proof I needed. I was going into labor.

**Ryan’s POV**

Ryan paced his office, every so often glancing at his phone. He wanted to call Shay so badly, needed to hear her voice again. He had been so worried ever since she left and he couldn’t even send someone to watch over her, to make sure she was safe. What was even worse was that the baby was due soon, very soon, and Ryan refused to be away from his wife during that time. He had to be there for her.

“Ryan?” Saul opened the door and stepped in. It had taken Aqua a long time to convince him to come back to work. Losing Reno had hit him the hardest.

“What is it?” Ryan asked, turning to the other man.

“We just got a message…” Saul said. “I think you should come downstairs.” Ryan was instantly on alert and followed Saul down to the others. They were gathered around a computer but parted when Ryan approached. Geoff had a hard look on his face and his eyes were cold when they met Ryan’s.

“What happened?” Ryan asked the older man.

“Burnie sent us a message,” Geoff replied. “They know. They’ve known the entire time.” Ryan turned to the girl at the computer and ordered her to replay the message. She did as she was told and restarted the recording. Burnie’s face popped up with Gus and Matt behind him.

“Dear Mad King,” Burnie started. “We here at RT Cockbites would like to congratulate you. You had a mighty fine plan to throw us off course, however, you forgot to factor out that we were not born yesterday. It became clear almost immediately that you were lying to us and that you were helping Fake AH. We do not take kindly to being lied to.” The video cut and showed Shay in a cell. Ryan’s heart stopped as he watched his wife pace around the room for a bit before sitting down on the small bed, her hand on her stomach. The video cut back to Burnie. “We are giving you twenty-four hours to hand Geoff over. The others can stay with you, all I want is Geoff. If we do not receive him within that time period, all that you love will be taken from you. Have a nice day.” The video ended and Ryan stood there for a few moments, fury rolling off of him in waves. Everyone had taken a step back, waiting for the Mad King to lash out, but instead Ryan turned and headed for the planning table.

“I need every man we got,” he ordered. Geoff followed him to the table and they stared down at the map of the city. “Shay says their hideout is here.” Ryan pointed to an apartment building in the middle of town.

“What do you plan to do?” Geoff asked.

“We go in there and force them to stand down,” Ryan replied. “I’m done playing nice. I want my wife and child back.”

“But Ryan,” Gavin spoke up. “Won’t they expect that?”

“Not with his wife in there,” Michael shook his head. “They’d think he’d be too scared to pull anything off, should they harm her and the baby.”

“He’s right,” Jack nodded. “They won’t expect a full attack.”

“So then let’s get in there and blow some brains out!” Ray yelled. The others in the warehouse cheered with him and Ryan nodded, setting to work. He split everyone up into four groups; snipers, info, first wave and second wave. Ray would lead the snipers, setting them up in different buildings around the apartment building. From there, they would take out anyone who tried to escape or anyone coming in, once things got into motion. Those on info would stay behind and gather blueprints and anything else they could find on the building, giving waves one and two a run down on the best entrances and exits. Wave one, led by Geoff, would hit from the front, taking out everyone in the lobby area of the building and heading up while Wave two, led by Ryan, would go searching for Shay.

“Depending on where Shay is, I may send some of you to Geoff for backup,” Ryan explained. “Now, your main concern will be taking out the leaders. Once they fall, the others will follow quickly. I’ll get Shay while the rest of you cover me and then we all leave. Whoever is still alive, if they try and stop you, kill them and if not just leave them for now.”

They planned everything out, got some people on gun check and cleaning and then all Ryan had to do was wait and Ryan hated waiting.

“We’ll get her back safe and sound,” Geoff promised.

“Yeah, Shay isn’t going to let them touch a hair on her,” Jack nodded. “She’s a strong one.” Ryan gave them a small smile, even if their words weren’t making him feel better.

 _Hang in there Shay,_ Ryan thought, staring out his office window at everyone down below, getting ready. _I’m coming for you and I will kill them all if I have to._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been so busy lately with a lot of things happening in my life. I'm so so sorry that I'm falling behind in my stories but I've been worried about work and family and I have to re-apply for college soon otherwise the money my parents set aside disappears (if you ever want to save up money for your kid, do it through a bank account and not something the government has because it is too much of a hassle going through them)


	12. War

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan and the guys head to RT Cockbites' HQ to save Shay.

“ _Wave one in position,_ ” Geoff’s voice came through the little speaker in Ryan’s ear.

“ _Snipers ready,_ ” Ray said.

“Wave two ready,” Ryan replied. “Go.” They headed in, Ryan hearing gunshots already from the front of the building. Luckily, there had been an accessible back door that Ryan’s team could slip through easily. No one was back there, thankfully, so they started searching for Shay.

“ _Lobby clear,_ ” Geoff said. “ _Two wounded on our side. Heading up._ ”

“ _No one outside yet,_ ” came Ray’s voice.

“I’m not seeing anything,” Ryan said. “Info, is there a basement at all?” He waited for a moment while they looked into the blueprints.

“ _Yup. There should be a door by the stairwell that leads down._ ” Ryan nodded and motioned his team to follow. They quickly located the stairs and found a door marked ‘Employees Only’ on it.

“Heading downstairs,” Ryan told the others and got a ‘be careful’ back. Ryan and his team moved down the stairs quietly. They found themselves in an office of sorts, a bank of computers on one side, lockers on the other and a door leading to a bathroom. Another door led to a dark hallway with cells.

“Security?” Gavin asked. Ryan nodded. Suddenly, they heard a scream coming from one of the cells and Ryan practically ripped the door open. They ran down the hall to the very last cell where they found Shay on the bed with blood on the sheets. Joel and someone else was in the room, Joel holding Shay’s hand and the someone else wearing a doctor’s coat.

“Shay!” Ryan yelled. He ran into the cell and pushed Joel away, kneeling by his wife. “Shay! What have they done to you?!”

“We haven’t done anything you idiot!” Joel yelled. “She’s in labour.”

“Ryan…” Shay panted and screamed again.

“She’s about ready to pop too,” the other guy said. “I’m Dr. Shawcross by the way. I assume you’re the father?”

“Yes,” Ryan replied, his eyes never leaving Shay’s face. To his men he said, “Someone inform the others what’s going on.” While one of Ryan’s group went off to call it in, the others snuck up on Joel and grabbed him.

“Hey!” He yelled as he was forced to the ground. Someone else pointed a gun at the doctor to make sure he didn’t try anything.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Shawcross held his hands up. “I’m not going to do anything. Shay and the baby’s health are more important right now.” Just then Shay screamed and the doctor looked down. “Alright, the baby is coming. Someone grab me those blankets and the thing of water.” Michael did as the doctor asked and set them down beside him. It was the hardest few moments of Ryan’s life. Seeing Shay in so much pain but not being able to do anything was tearing at him and he tried his best to whisper encouragements to her.

“The others are closing in, sir,” One of Ryan’s men, Jones, said.

“Good,” Ryan nodded. “Take a few men with you and go help them.” Jones nodded and grabbed two guys before heading back upstairs.

“One more push Shay,” Shawcross said. “You’re almost there.” Shay, covered in sweat and panting, cried out as she pushed one last time. There was silence and then the cry of a baby. “It’s a girl!”

“A girl?” Shay smiled and looked up at Ryan, who smiled back. He watched as the doctor handed the baby to Shay and then stood up.

“How soon can we move her?” Ryan asked.

“As long as you’re careful, you can move her now,” Shawcross replied. Ryan nodded and called back to their HQ, requesting someone come pick up Shay. He then told Michael to stay with her while the rest of them went upstairs.

“Shay, honey, I’m going to go with the others now but I’ll be back soon, okay?” Ryan knelt by her again and brushed some hair away from her face.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I was wrong. I thought this would work…”

“Shh,” Ryan kissed her forehead. “No. You did what you thought was best.” He looked down at the little bundle in her arms and smiled again before getting up. “Alright guys. Let’s go.” They headed upstairs, Joel and the doctor in front of them with guns pointed at their backs, and started looking for the others.

“Top floor,” Joel said. “Would be my guess. They have their main office up there.” Ryan nodded and they headed up. As they got closer to the top floor, they could hear the others yelling and a few gunshots on the floors they passed. As soon as they reached the top floor and burst through the door, they saw Geoff and Jack in a standoff with Burnie and Gus. Matt was on the ground clutching his side, blood pouring out of a bullet wound. Ryan surveyed the room, seeing his men surrounding Burnie’s. One man caught his eye and he did a double take, seeing Reno with his hands up and a gun pointed to his head.

“Son of a bitch…” Ryan whispered.

“Joel!” Burnie barked. “Get over here. It’s time we put an end to this.” When Joel didn’t move, Burnie broke eye contact with Geoff and glared at him. “I said get over here Joel.”

“No,” Joel replied. “I’ll take whatever punishment they see fit for me. I won’t fight them anymore.”

“You coward!” Gus yelled. “All this for a girl who’ll never love you! How sad is that?” Joel didn’t say anything, just stayed where he was and turned his eyes to Ryan.

“Alright guys,” Geoff said. “One last warning. We’ve got your men and we’ve got you. Surrender or die.”

“ _I’ve got eyes on Burnie,_ ” Ray’s voice came through their coms. “ _Taking aim now. Give me the word and he’s gone._ ” Geoff glanced over to Ryan who nodded.

“Now!” Geoff yelled. There was a split second and then the glass shattered behind Burnie and Gus and Burnie fell to the floor. Gus yelled and started firing wildly before one of Jack’s bullets hit him. In the commotion, Matt picked up his gun and aimed at Ryan, grinning as he pulled the trigger. Joel, however, noticed and pushed Ryan out of the way, getting a bullet in his stomach for his troubles. Geoff kicked the gun out of Matt’s hands and shot him in the head, the grin still plastered on his face.

“Well…this hurts like a bitch,” Joel cursed before dropping to the ground.

“Well shit,” Jack said. “I’ll call in our doctor.”

“I’m a doctor too!” Shawcross spoke up. “I can help out until yours gets here.” Jack nodded and Shawcross headed for Joel, listing off things he’d need from his office. Gavin nodded and ran to go get the supplies as Jack called in for back up. Ryan, however, was focused on Reno.

“You’ve caused a lot of trouble,” Ryan said to the other man.

“Yeah well, that’s how it works in this business,” Reno replied. “I don’t regret it.”

“Get these guys out of here,” Ryan called to the others. “Lock them up in our cells until we decide what to do with them. Make sure their hands are bound tightly too. We don’t want anything to happen.”

“Ryan, they have Shay and are heading to the hospital,” Jack informed him. “She’s doing alright and so is the baby.”

“Baby?” Geoff asked, turning around.

“She had the baby just now,” Ryan explained.

“Well shit dude! Congrats!” Geoff grinned. “What are you still doing here then? Get in a car and get to your wife! We’ve got things under control.” Ryan nodded and headed off, clapping Geoff on the shoulder as he passed the older gent.

**Shay’s POV**

I woke up to the sound of beeping. My eyes opened slowly and I winced at the harsh light, squinting my eyes until I could see clearly. I was in a hospital room, that much I was certain of. Funny how I always ended up there after something major went down.

“She’s finally away,” someone said. I looked to the side and saw Michael sitting in a chair, grinning. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”

“Thanks,” I croaked, my throat hurting. “Water?” Michael nodded and grabbed a cup from the side table with a straw to it, bringing it to my mouth. I drank the entire thing, nearly groaning as the cool liquid soothed my throat. “How long have I been out?” I asked once I was done.

“A few hours,” Michael shrugged. “You did just go through labour. Doctor said needed the rest.”

“Where’s my baby?” I suddenly asked, panicked.

“She’s fine,” Michael soothed. “Ryan’s with her now. They just wanted to make sure she was healthy, which she is, and now he’s out with the others showing her off like the ass he is. You should see him. I don’t think he’s ever looked that proud before.” I smiled slightly, settling back down again. “Look…I wanted to apologize. About…well, you know. Almost killing you.”

“It’s fine,” I said automatically.

“No, it’s not,” Michael shook his head. “I have anger issues, I know that. I also know I tend to do stupid shit when angry. I never really wanted to hurt you but…after what happened, seeing the building fall like that and everyone hurt, I couldn’t stop myself. I really am sorry and I promise to do whatever it takes to make up for it.”

“Michael,” I started but was interrupted by Ryan walking through the door with a tiny bundle in his arms.

“Shay,” he breathed, and hurried over to my side, leaning how to kiss me. “How are you feeling?”

“A little sore,” I replied. I tugged at the blanket in his arms. “Let me hold her.” He gave me my baby and I looked down at her sweet little sleeping face. “She looks like you.”

“She has your eyes,” he whispered, settling on the bed beside me. “She hasn’t cried since we got here either.” Michael quietly got up and left the room, giving us time alone. I rested my head on Ryan’s shoulder and he wrapped his arms around me and the baby.

“I hate to say this but I don’t have a name for her,” I sighed. “I was so busy with everything else…”

“We’ll think of something,” Ryan assured her.

“Hm,” I looked down at my baby’s face and thought for a moment.

_Ashe._

What?

_Ashe. You always said you liked the name Ashe. Might as well name the child that._

I blinked and looked up at Ryan who was looking at me with concern.

“Was I speaking out loud again?” I asked shyly and Ryan nodded. I winced and looked away, biting my lip.

“It’s okay,” Ryan soothed. “We’ll get through it.”

“It’s not okay,” I snapped. “I’m losing my god damned mind.”

“Honey, I hate to tell you this, but you lost it a long time ago,” Ryan replied. “You wouldn’t have married me if you didn’t.”

“Shut up,” I smacked his arm lightly, unable to stop the grin on my face.

“And I think Ashe is a lovely name,” he continued. “Perfect for our baby.” I smiled and snuggled into him, sighing happily.

“I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you,” Ryan replied and kissed the top of my head. Things were finally going to be okay again and I was glad. For once, I was ready for the future. I had Ryan, I had my crew and, most of all, I had my baby girl. Everything was going to be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking one or two more chapters and then I'll be done this.


	13. Beginning of the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is finally okay again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is talk of torture and death in this chapter

Everything was not going to be fine. Never in my life had I had to make such a hard decision, such a life altering decision. I could feel the sweat roll down my neck as I stared at them, my hands shaking slightly at the prospect of making the wrong decision. My entire life came down to this moment…and I had never been so scared.

“Ryan?” I said. He was standing beside me, my only rock in this ordeal. “I don’t know which one to choose!” I held up two onesies, both had hoods and both were made to look like animals but I couldn’t decide if I wanted to get the lion or the zebra for Ashe.

“Get them both,” Ryan laughed. We were picking up some more clothes for Ashe, and a few new toys. While I had been in the hospital, Ryan and the guys went baby shopping, getting a crib, some clothes, toys and whatever else they thought Ashe would need. But I wanted to spoil my baby even more, so I figured a few more things wouldn’t hurt.

After browsing for a bit more, we headed to the checkout and went home, Ashe falling asleep in his car seat. As we pulled up to the house, I saw Aqua’s truck in the driveway and Geoff’s car behind it.

“Looks like we have visitors,” Ryan said, sighing.

“Looks like it,” I agreed. We got out and headed into the house, Aqua immediately coming over to give me a hug and see the baby.

“So,” Geoff started. “We need to figure out what to do with Joel.”

“Do with him?” I asked, looking over Aqua’s shoulder to the Gent. Joel had been taken care of by our doctors and Ryan gave me regular reports on how his bullet wound was doing. Now that it was almost completely healed up, I figured the boys wanted to extract their own punishment on him.

“He’s been sitting in your cell for a while now,” Geoff said. “We need to figure something out. Same with Reno.”

“Oh, is Saul finally done beating him?” Ryan asked pleasantly. He had taken much glee in the thought of Reno getting his ass handed to him. “As for Joel, he’s free to go.”

“What?” Aqua whirled around. “That man is the enemy! Why does he get let off the hook?”

“I owe him my life,” Ryan shrugged. “He took a bullet for me. I may hate the guy but I have to respect him for that. We’ll just let him go.”

“Where the hell is the Mad King?” Geoff demanded. “I thought for sure you’d tear that guy limb from limb!”

“Please don’t hurt him,” I said quietly. They all turned towards me and I winced at the sudden attention. “He didn’t want any of that to happen. He took care of me while I was there and he didn’t want anyone hurt. We should focus on Reno. Not Joel.”

“The Queen has spoken,” Ryan said.

“Fine. But we need you guys at the warehouse now anyways,” Geoff sighed. “As King and Queen you need to address your subjects. Also, I’d like to make an offer to Ryan but I want to be at the warehouse to do so.” Ryan and I exchanged quick looks before nodding.

“Let’s unpack the car first and then we’ll go,” Ryan replied. The three of them unloaded everything and brought it up to the baby’s room while I fed Ashe and changed her diaper. When the others were done with the heavy lifting, I put Ashe back in her car seat and we headed over to HQ. I hadn’t been back since I got out of the hospital so, when we got there, I was bombarded with questions about how I was doing, how the baby was doing and if they could hold her. Ryan had to push through the horde of crew members just so he could get to the planning board.

“Don’t you guys have work to do?” Geoff asked, glaring at everyone. “Leave the poor girl alone.” Everyone mumbled a reply and eventually headed back to their jobs, Geoff shaking his head the entire time.

“I see nothing has really changed,” I laughed.

“Animals,” Geoff sighed. “All of them.”

“So, Geoff,” Ryan started. “You said you had an offer to make me?”

“Well, we work well together,” Geoff said. “You and the boys go out every so often and do odd jobs here and there. I was wondering if you’d like to join our crew.”

“I already have a crew,” Ryan pointed out.

“And you can keep it,” Geoff nodded. “Think of it like…an honorary member. You will still lead this crew as the Mad King but whenever we need you, you become BM Vagabond.”

“You want him to work under you occasionally,” I clarified.

“Yes,” Geoff nodded again. “He’s a leader of a crew so I’d be asking you for your opinion often and this way, you can get your hands twice as dirty.”

“Did you have this planned from the start or was this just recently?” Ryan asked, smirking.

“Recently,” Geoff replied. “Like I said, you and the boys go out a lot anyways. Might as well make some more money while doing it.”

“And what about my wife?” Ryan asked.

“She can handle this crew without you,” Geoff replied.

“And maybe she can join us sometimes too,” Jack added. “Both of you have amazing skills.”

“I think I’m going to stay away from working in the field for a while,” I said, nodding down to Ashe. “Besides, this seems like an all-boys club to me.”

“It is!” Michael yelled.

“No girls allowed!” Gavin added. His eyes then widened and he turned to Becca. “Except for you, love. You can stay.” I shook my head at the two of them and sighed.

“See?” I said, turning back to Geoff.

“Fine, just your husband then,” Geoff laughed. “What do you say, Ryan? Wanna be a King and a Vagabond?”

“I’ll think about it,” Ryan said. “Right now, I want to get this Reno thing out of the way.”

“Understandable,” Geoff nodded.

“Aqua? Can you take the baby?” I asked, turning to her. “I want to go with Ryan.”

“I’m going too,” Aqua said, coming to stand beside me. “That man was in my crew as well as yours. I’m going too.”

“I’ll take her,” Becca spoke up. “I’ll look after the baby while you go deal with him.” I hesitated, staring at Becca for a moment. I knew I could trust her with Ashe but there was so much tension built up between us now that I didn’t w _ant_ to give my baby to her. Before I could say anything though, Gavin walked up to me and gently took Ashe from my arms, giving me a small smile. I nodded to him and turned back to Ryan who started leading the way to the cells.

We had five cells although it would technically be three since two were used as interrogation rooms. The two interrogation rooms had actual doors so no one could look inside and see what was happening to which I was happy about. Reno was in one of those interrogation rooms now and I could hear him yelling in pain as Saul got his anger out.

“He’s been in and out of there for two days,” Geoff informed me. “Your friend has a lot of anger.” I shrugged and nodded. Saul wasn’t one to be betrayed. As we neared the room, we passed by Joel in one of the other cells. He looked up when he heard us coming and gave me a small, sad smile before looking away.

“He won’t be hurt,” Ryan whispered in my ear.

“I know,” I whispered back. “But…I want to talk to you about something after we’re done with Reno.” Ryan looked at me for a moment before nodding. When we got to Reno’s cell, Ryan knocked on the door. Reno’s crying quieted to a low whimpering as Saul opened the door. His eyes were dead when he looked at us and his face was grim.

“Please tell me you left us something to talk to?” Ryan asked calmly.

“I only hammered nails into his arms and legs,” Saul replied. “And his shoulders.”

“Okay then,” Ryan nodded. “Shall we?” Saul opened the door wider and let us in the room. Blood was pooling under Reno’s chair but not enough to be life threatening. His head was hanging and he was panting, soft groans of pain coming from him every so often.

“Saul, why don’t you go take a break,” Aqua offered. “We got it from here.” Saul nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.

“Reno!” Ryan greeted cheerfully, walking around the chair and lifting Reno’s head up by his hair. “Nice to see you again buddy. How you doing?”

“Go to hell,” Reno spit.

“Now that’s not very nice. We came here to have a nice little chat,” Ryan kept the smile on his face but his eyes were burning with hatred. “You, my good sir, have gone against our backs and handed over information to the enemy. You kidnapped the Queen of the Royal Court and threatened the life of me, the King. That is treason.”

“Treason is punishable by death,” I cut in. “In the old days, they would do this by beheading. I think we’ll take a page from their book.”

“And what of Joel?” Reno asked. “Does he get the death sentence to?”

“Nope,” I replied. “Joel is being let go because he took a bullet for my husband.”

“Of course,” Reno laughed without humour. “All the deeds he’s done up to this point are all but forgotten because he became a hero.”

“You are to die tonight,” Ryan informed him. “Everyone will be there to see the show and afterwards we will hold a great feast, celebrating the victory of our crews.”

“I shall die with a smile on my face,” Reno grinned.

“We’ll see about that,” Ryan replied. He nodded to the rest of us and we left the room. I pulled Ryan back a bit and waited until the others were out of earshot before speaking.

“I want to offer Joel a place with us,” I said. Ryan was silent for a moment before chuckling.

“I somehow knew you were going to say that,” he sighed. “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

“Yes.”

“He was our enemy,” Ryan reminded me.

“No…I don’t think he was,” I replied. “I think he never really wanted this but they forced him to go through with it.”

“If my Queen commands it, it shall be done,” Ryan said and kissed the back of my hand. “Shall I tell him or you?”

“I will. You go back with the others.” He nodded and handed me the keys to the cell before heading back out to the main area. I walked over to Joel’s cell and leaned on the bars, swinging the key around my finger.

“Your Majesty,” Joel got up and bowed. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” I could see him better now, see how his beard had grown in a bit and how thinner he looked. That made me pause for a moment. Either he wasn’t eating or the food they were giving him wasn’t enough. My guess was on the last one.

“Thought we could have a little chat,” I replied. “Haven’t been here since the baby was born. Wanted to check in.”

“And how is the Princess?”

“She’s fine.” I unlocked the cell door and walked inside, leaving the door open behind me. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“What’s that?” Joel sat on the bed and I moved to sit beside him. He seemed surprised by this but didn’t say anything.

“You are now a free man,” I told him. “Ryan and I have talked and we agree that you are no longer to be held here. You may go and live your life as you may. But…I wanted to offer you a place here, in the Court.”

“You want me to join your crew?” Joel asked, confusion written all over his face. “But I-”

“Saved the King and tried to protect me,” I cut in. “I know you didn’t want what happened and that you regret it. Ryan knows that too. You were never our enemy Joel. But you don’t have to. You can say no and you’d never hear from us again.”

“I don’t like the sounds of that,” Joel grinned. “I’d miss our coffee dates.” I couldn’t help but grin back at him.

“Then say yes.”

“Promise the rest of the Court won’t try to murder me in my sleep?”

“I’ll make sure they never even think it,” I swore, putting a hand over my heart.

“And what would be my position?” Joel asked.

“…Court Jester?” I grinned. “You’d look good in a silly hat.”

“How insulting!” Joel laughed and shook his head. “Oh very well, if that’s what I have to endure.”

“Come on. Time to meet your new crew.” I got up and lead the way out to the others, Joel following closely behind. As soon as we neared them, everyone in the building went quiet and turned to look at us. I went to stand beside Ryan, who had located his crown and put it on crookedly, by the planning table and nodded. He smiled at me and turned to the others. Becca came over and handed me Ashe, her little hand instantly seeking out my hair and tugging on it.

“Friends, I’d like to make an announcement,” Ryan said loudly. “I’d like to welcome a new member to the Court.” He motioned for Joel to come stand beside us and, as he did, the others started to clap. It caught Joel off guard and he paused for a moment, staring at everyone, before coming to stand beside us.

“Now, as you all know,” Geoff stepped up once the clapping stopped. “There was a traitor among us. The King and Queen have decided to execute him tonight. Anyone care to help set up the stage?” Almost everyone raised their hands and Geoff picked out some of the stronger looking men, taking them outside to start clearing an area big enough to fit everyone.

“You’re really going to kill him?” Joel asked me quietly.

“We have to,” Ryan said in my place. “Not only can we not let our reputation down but I cannot stand to let that man live after what he’s done. Surely your old crew did the same?”

“They did,” Joel nodded. “I just figured, because he had been your friend, you’d just keep him locked up.”

“But that’s exactly why we’re doing it,” I replied. “Because he was our friend. We don’t want this ever happening again and if we were to say he is to live, what’s stopping someone else from betraying us? This way, they know there are severe consequences.”

“But enough talk of that,” Ryan said and clapped Joel on the shoulder. “I take it you’ve healed up?”

“Almost,” Joel replied. “Still have some healing to do.”

“Good,” Ryan nodded. “While we’re waiting, I’ll show you around, let you get used to know things are run here.”

“And I will take Ashe for her nap,” I said and headed up to Ryan’s office. He had insisted that we put in a crib up there for Ashe, in case we had to spend nights at the warehouse. I fed her and put her in the crib, turning on the baby monitor and strapping the speaker to my belt. I didn’t leave right away though. I waited and watched as my daughter fell asleep.

_Small._

Very small.

_Something that small can break easily._

We’ll take care of her.

_But what about tomorrow?_

She won’t grow up alone.

_You can’t see the future._

She won’t grow up alone.

_Crews are dangerous. You could have been killed how many times already? Is it worth it? Now that you have her, is it really worth it? Is this a life a child should have?_

Reno was executed that night and they had a feast, just like Ryan promised. Half way through it though, Ryan stood up and made a toast for all those who had fallen during this time. Everyone raised their glass for our fallen members, some of them shedding tears for their friends.

“We fought a great war,” Ryan began. “We fought and we won, though it was bittersweet. Those we lost will not be forgotten. Our Court shall honour their names till the day we die. May they rest in peace.”

“May they rest in peace.” Everyone repeated and drank. After the food had been cleared away, everyone stuck around to talk with each other and to grieve. Joel stuck by my side, amazed at how close everyone in the crew was.

“I take it things were a bit different in your old crew?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah,” Joel nodded. “There was us and nobody was allowed to talk to us except for those we brought along for jobs. Techs…well, they were basically invisible.”

“You’ll see that everyone here is a valued member of our Court,” Ryan said. “They all have their talents and, as their King, I must be fair to all of them. With time, you’ll learn how we work.”

By midnight, people started heading home. Geoff, Aqua, Ryan and I were the only ones who stuck around for a bit longer. Together, we gave another toast to those who had died before moving around the planning table.

“So, we just took down a very big and a very dangerous crew,” Geoff said, stroking his moustache. “I do believe our name will be growing now.”

“Which is bad,” Aqua pointed out. “We’re not the only hot shot crew out there. Word gets around that we’re getting a bit too big and the next group comes for us.”

“So we play it cool,” I shrugged. “Anyone comes knocking on our door, we take care of them. Easy.”

“Don’t let this victory get to your head, Shay,” Aqua warned.

“I won’t,” I rolled my eyes before letting them fall on the map of the city. “But you know…we are pretty badass.” I peeked up at her and saw her grin, Ryan and Geoff joining her.

“Yeah we are,” Aqua laughed and slapped me a high five. “Talk about a rush.”

“Aqua does have a point though,” Ryan said. “We do need to be careful. Who knows when another crew will roll into town? We have to keep our eyes and ears open. Until then…”

“Until then, we rule the city,” Geoff said. “The Fake AH, The Mad Kingdom and the Top Hats are, and always will be, the number one crews in this city. We’re rolling in the green man.” I started to laugh, making everyone give me a weird look.

“What’s so funny?” Ryan asked.

“Not too long ago, The Fake AH were our enemies and now we’re allies who are taking over the city,” I replied between giggles. Geoff grinned and ruffled my hair.

“You still owe me for that whole bullet-in-chest thing,” he said.

“Burger and fries make up for it?” I teased.

“Good enough for me.” The four of us stood there laughing for a bit and I think all of us shed a few tears too. We had just passed what was probably one of the hardest moments of our life and we came out unscratched for the most part. Whatever life threw at us next would be nothing compared to this.

 

One Year Later

“Shay! She stood up! She stood up!” Ryan started yelling from the living room and I rushed in from the kitchen, seeing my daughter standing up all by herself. Ryan had his phone out and was recording Ashe as she just stood there, looking around.

“Awe, look at my big girl!” I cooed as I dropped to my knees beside her. “Standing all by herself! Soon you’ll be running around!”

“Oh god,” Ryan groaned and shuddered. “I can only image the horrors she’d get up to.”

“Well, she’s your kid so I expect the house to be burnt down before she’s two,” I replied. Ryan stuck his tongue out and put his phone away. I picked Ashe up and headed for the door, grabbing my purse. Both Ryan and I were dressed to the nines, him in a tux and me in a dark green dress. I had put Ashe into a cute pink dress with a frilly skirt. She was so adorable.

We had been invited to Gavin and Rebecca’s wedding and while I was still mad at Becca (boy could I hold a grudge), I still decided to go. For Gavin’s sake.

I got Ashe into her car seat and climbed into the front, waiting for Ryan to start the car and head for the church.

“Never thought I’d see the day when Gavin would get married,” Ryan sighed. “That kid has no game.”

“You’re so mean to him!” I laughed. “Gavin has more game than you.”

“Too bad he picked a bitch like Becca as his wife.” I slapped a hand over my mouth, closing my eyes and resting my head on the window. My other self had been slowly making its way out of my mind. Now the voice that used to be in my head was now just my voice who liked to appear at random moments.

“Hey,” Ryan said quietly, squeezing my knee. “It’s okay.”

“No,” I said, my voice muffled by my hand. “It’s not okay. It’s never going to be okay.”

“Shayne,” Ryan looked over at me and smiled. “You have no hope for a better tomorrow do you?”

“Nope.” I shook my head and Ryan rolled his eyes. When we got to the church, we could see cars already filling the parking lot and people outside mingling. When we pulled up, Ryan was instantly taken away from me so he could go help Gavin get ready because, you know, he was the only one who had experiences with weddings. I quickly found Aqua and stuck to her like glue while keeping a tight grip on Ashe. She liked to squirm we learned, so we had to keep our arms locked around her or else she’d try to take a flying lesson.

“Hey Shay,” Joel practically whispered in my ear as he came up beside me. “Aqua. You girls look lovely today.”

“You clean up pretty good yourself, Mr. Heyman,” Aqua replied. “Hair could use some work though.”

“Jo!” Ashe giggled and offered Joel a huge grin. She was still learning how to talk and couldn’t really get everyone’s full name yet. It was extremely cute how she used shortened versions of everyone’s name. There was ‘Jo’ for Joel, ‘Ma’ and ‘Da’ for Ryan and I, ‘Wa’ for Aqua and the list went on and on. I think it melted everyone’s heart when she tried to say their names.

“Well hey there little Princess,” Joel smiled at Ashe and tickled her. She screamed in delight and tried to hide in my hair.

“Well, we might as well go find a seat,” I said, looking at the horde of people trying to get in the church. “Otherwise we’ll be stuck outside.” Just as we headed towards the doors, one of the bride’s maids, Lindsay I think her name was, came running over to us.

“Shay! Thank God I found you!” She sighed in relief. “You need to come with me. Becca is freaking the hell out and keeps asking for you.”

“She can’t take care of herself?” Not me snapped. Lindsay looked taken aback for a moment before regaining composure.

“Please Shay.” I sighed and handed Ashe off to Aqua before following Lindsay to a side room in the church. There, we found Becca sitting on a chair and hyperventilating, someone trying to fan her while someone else held out a glass of water. I took one look at her and ushered everyone out, practically yelling at them so they would move faster.

“Alright, what’s wrong?” I asked. Becca looked up at me and I could see real fear in her eyes. She was wearing a traditional wedding dress and someone had braided her hair, putting small white flowers in it.

“I don’t think I’m ready for this,” she said, still hyperventilating. “I always thought my parents would be there for my wedding and my dad would walk me down the aisle and all of my friends would be there. I thought the guy I was going to marry would be some kind of business man who lived in a big house and had two dogs!”

“Well, Gavin is sort of a business man,” I tried. “Look, things don’t always work out the way we want them too. And hey, this is probably for the better. Just any old business man would have been boring. And Geoff is walking you down the aisle. He’s…sort of a father figure in your crew. As for friends, the place is packed out there so….”

“But you’re not there,” Becca whispered. “You were supposed to be my maid of honor. You were supposed to be at my wedding for me, not for my fiancé.”

“Like I said,” I shrugged. “Things change. People change.”

“Shay, I can’t do this without you.”

“You’re going to have to,” I replied. “I know you feel bad for what happened but what’s done is done. Maybe one day I will be able to forgive you but it won’t be anytime soon. But, a good way to get that ball rolling is by getting your ass down to that alter and saying ‘I Do’ because if Gavin leaves here with a broken heart, I won’t hear the end of his wailing.”

“You really have changed,” Becca said. “The Shay I knew would have been more sympathetic.”

“The Shay you knew became a leader of a crew, got married, had a kid and developed a split personality,” I pointed out. “This last little while hasn’t exactly been easy for me.”

“I know,” After a moment, she calmed down enough to stand up and fix her veil. “I will try and make up for everything though.”

“Mmhmm.” I nodded and went back outside, telling her bride’s maids they could go join her again. I went and found Aqua and Joel, who gave Ashe back to me instantly, and sat down beside them. Ryan found us a few minutes later and settled in.

“Well, Gavin is nervous,” he said.

“So is Becca.”

“Good, another thing they have in common,” Ryan laughed.

“You know…” I began. “This reminds me of our wedding day.”

“Oh yeah?” Ryan grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it.

“And how we’ve yet to go on our honeymoon.” I gave him a pointed look and he winced.

“Yeah…I’m working on it.” Music started playing and we all quieted down, watching as Becca walked down the aisle with Geoff who handed her off to Gavin. As I sat there and listened to them say their vows, I sent up a silent prayer to whoever or whatever was supposed to be listening. I had made it through the hardest part of my life and I came out alive and happier than ever. I could see my future clearly now and it made me smile. Maybe one day I would trust Becca again, and maybe it would be one day soon, but for now, I was happy with what I had. Life is just amazing that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus concludes the story of Shay. I want to thank everyone who has been patient with me through all of this. Life has been throwing lemons at me so it was hard to find times to just sit down and write. I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did.


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